


Outlawqueen- The 2020 collection.

by invain



Series: oq prompt week 2020 [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, OQPROMPTPARTY2020, Outlawqueen - Freeform, onceuponatime, oqau, oqpromptweek2020, oqweek, outlawqueenau, robinhoodreginamillsau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25688236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invain/pseuds/invain
Summary: oq week:)
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Series: oq prompt week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862755
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**I put 1-259 in a random generator, and write the prompt it gives me.**

**C1-178/177/208- Robin meets Alice. One of their kids' weddings. Reacting to one of their kids coming out.**

**C2-44/206** **High school AU. Regina/Robin Bad boy/girl. OQ+Drug problem.**

**C3-43/111/174/224/- Robin as a cop. Undercover. OQ in a dangerous situation. I'm not going to leave you. You're never going to have to be on your own again. I promise./ Ex's that are still in love.**

**C4-** **172- You're that child actor from that TV show I've forgotten the name of. Im sorry im staring it's just going to bug me.**

**C5-102- Regina introducing Robin to Henry snr in the underworld.**

**C6- 88/152-Regina suffers PTSD and has an episode. Drunk Regina and Sober Robin.**

**C7-41- A verse where Regina runs from an abusive mother, and meets Robin, another runaway.**

* * *

**prompt one- 177,178,208.**

**Robin meets Alice. One of their kids' weddings. Reacting to one of their kids coming out.**

**Lets just say Robin didn't die K? K. Also zelena is just.. Not here. Regina raised Robyn, who by the way, I couldn't figure out a name for, bc if robin didn't die, she'd have a different name right?**

* * *

She took a deep breath as she reached the living room door, trying to slow her racing heart that beat so loud in her ears she's surprised her parents can't hear it. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she raised her head, cleared her throat, and with one last breath, opened the door.

Regina and Robin were sat on the couch in front of the TV, and the sixteen year old couldn't help but smile to herself as she listened to her mothers laughter at something stupid her dad had probably come out with.

As she shut the door, her mother turned around slowly with a smile.

"Hey sweetie," Regina said to her with a smile, but as Regina looked at her, the smile faulted. "Everything okay?" Regina asked. Robin turned around to face her at Regina's words, and the girl smiled.

"Yeah." She said, her voice shaking, "I just erm.."

"Hey, Hey." Regina said softly as she sat up as a tear fell from her daughter's face. "What happened?"

"Nothing." The girl said quickly, wiping the tears. She walked towards them, sitting in front of them on the foot stool. "I just need to talk to you both about something." The young girl said, and met her mother's worried eyes, before looking at her father's curious ones.

"I have something to tell you." The girl said, before swallowing and looking to the ground. "And i don't know how you're going to feel about it. I have hopes that you'll be okay but.."

"Oh my god you're pregnant." Robin said quickly, before turning to Regina who looked at him with wide eyes. "She's pregnant. I thought you talked to her about safe se-"

"I did!" Regina interrupted, before turning to her daughter, "Are you pregnant? Because I will beat you with this chair-" Regina told her, and the girl laughed slightly.

"N-" She went to say, but her father saw red.

"Who is he? Is he here?" Robin said, beginning to stand up, and Regina quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him down next to her.

"Obviously he's not here, you picked her up from school." Regina said as she rolled her eyes.

"I know about windows." Robin told her, "I'm a thief . I know how to sneak into places" Robin said to her, and Regina closed her mouth and turned to face their daughter and went to speak when the girl's expression stopped her.

She sat there, staring at her parents with a small smile, and laughed slightly.

"This is funny to you?" Robin said to her seriously, and the girl's smile dropped.

"You're sixteen, we didn't even know you were having se-"

"I'm not pregnant." She told them, and she watched her parents relax.

"You're not?" Both of them said at the same time.

"No." Their daughter laughed, and both of them looked at her with the same blank expression.

"I-" The girl began, but the fear that had just vanished during the chaos that just took place leapt straight back into her. _Straight._ She thought to herself with a laugh. _How ironic._

"What is it, Peanut?" Robin asks her, and she felt herself tear up at the nickname he hadn't called her in years.

"I.." She began, "I.. okay." The sixteen year old said, before shaking herself and closing her eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Regina asks her, "You're acting like you're about to tell us you've killed the dog and buried it in the garden." Regina laughs.

"You.. You didn't kill the dog, right? Because I know what your mother was like with anger issues and I mean.. I'd rather it be a dog than a person but.." Robin babbled on, and his daughter laughs.

"No, I didn't kill the dog." She laughs.

"Then what is it? It's okay. You can tell us anything."

"I know. I know." The girl said, and she looks up at them. "And i want to tell you this. Because i've held it inside for so long and i just.. I don't want to fight anymore." She said, "I want to tell you this because it's who I am. And I want you to know me, because you're so special to me, and.. " She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said it.

"I love girls. Like.. I love them instead of boys. You know? Like the way you feel about each other is the way I feel about girls. This one girl, actually." Their daughter told them, and then shook her head, "But that's besides the point, I just.. Wanted you to know that about me. Okay. Cool." The girl said, and stopped talking and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and prepared herself for whatever was coming. She knew about the place her parents grew up in. Things like this didn't happen.

But then they didn't talk.

The girl opened her eyes to find both of her parents staring at her. Her father looked at her with wide eyes, like he's processing the news, and her mother looked at her with a smirk and knowing eyes, and she stared at her mother.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asks, and Regina smiled.

"I'm just.. Wow." Regina said, "Did you really think that this would change anything?" Regina asks her softly, and her daughter looks at her.

"No.. I just. This is something that I wanted you to hear from me. I wanted you to know this."

"Honey.. I've known this since you were ten." Regina smiles, and both her daughter and her father look at her.

"You have?" They both ask.

"Your first crush was on the girl that sat next to you in homeroom in middle school." Regina tells her, "You talked about her and her hair for three months." Regina said, and her daughter laughed and looked at the ground.

"Maybe I just liked her hair." She said with a smirk.

"I thought you did just like her hair?" Robin said, and both his girls looked at him.

"No dad, I liked her." His daughter smiled. Robin nodded and sat back, and the young girl looked at her mother with worried eyes, but Regina shook her head and smiled, her daughter looked to the ground and Regina felt her heart break.

"Robin." Regina said, and the man looked up, and she could see him processing what their daughter had just told him. She raised her eyebrow and he nods and looks at their daughter. The girl looks at her father with sad eyes and Robin put his head to the ground. Regina freezes, and stares at her husband. She looks at her daughter, who was also looking at the ground, tears rolling down her face. Robin catches Regina's eyes and looks at her, and she stares at him intensely with anger. He then looks at his daughter, before standing and leaving the room. Regina releases an uneasy breath, filled with rage and heartbreak for their little girl. Her daughter's cries brought her out of her anger and into reality.

"Come here." She says gently, and her daughter leaps into her arms.

Regina holds her close, running a hand through her hair.

"It's okay. It's okay." Regina whispers, before kissing her head.

"He hates me." She cries into her mother's chest.

"He doesn't hate you, baby." Regina says gently, "This is just all new to him."

"I thought he'd still love me." The young girl sobs, and Regina swallows the lump in her throat and kisses her daughters head, holding her tighter.

"You are so loved, no matter what." Regina tells her. She pulls herself from her mother's arms slowly, and looks at her. Regina smiles and gently places both hands on her daughter's cheeks, wiping her tears.

"Why can't he accept me for who I am?" The girl asked her mother in such a small voice that Regina was prepared to kill the man she could hear pacing in the room above them.

"He loves you so much, baby." She tells her, "I'm sure he's just processing. He needed three weeks to try and understand cable." Regina joked to try and cheer up her baby girl. Her daughter laughed slightly.

"I love you, no matter what. Nothing you could do would make me hate you, ever." Regina tells her, "You can love who you want and as long as you're happy, I'm happy. Nothing you ever do will make me love you any less, I promise you." Regina tells her, and her daughter smiles, before pulling herself into her mother's arms.

"I love you too." She says, and Regina smiles.

"Okay. Now, load the dishwasher." Regina says with a laugh, and the girl in her arms laughs along with her.

"Sure." She says, her heart still heavy over her father's reaction.

The sixteen year old heads in the kitchen, and turns and watches her mother walk up the stairs.

The whole house shakes as she bangs the bedroom door shut, and the girl bends down and strokes the dog, and smiles sadly.

* * *

Regina closes the door with such force the house shakes where it stands, and Robin turns on his heels and faces her.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Regina asks him, and he goes to speak when she stalks towards him and pokes him in the chest. "Your daughter just told you the biggest thing she'll ever tell you in her life, and you react like that? Like you're disgusted by her?" Regina snaps at him, "Are you?"

"Regina.. It's.." Robin says, and sighs before looking to the ground.

"Its what, Robin?" Regina says, her voice in a low voice filled with rage. "She's you _daughter._ " Regina snaps at him, "Nothing she tells you should ever, _ever,_ make you want to change that." Regina tells him, and he looks at her with wide eyes.

"Is that what she thinks? That this news made me not love her?" Robin asks, and Regina looks to the ground, hand on her hips.

"You didn't say anything to her, and then you left the room. What was she supposed to think?" Regina asks him, and he rubs a hand over his face.

"This is a lot for me to process, Regina!" Robin tells her, "This doesn't happen there." Robin tells her, "You know that."

"We're not there anymore Robin, okay" Regina tells him, "And I hate to burst your little bubble but this did happen there, people risked their lives to be able to love who they wanted to, just because you were

too ignorant to see it doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"I love our daughter, Regina. I love her no matter what, I just.. I don't understand this!" Robin tells her, and Regina looks at him.

"Then talk to her about it. Tell her you want to understand. That you love her. That you accept her." Regina says to him.

"I wanted to ask her when we were downstairs but.. I didn't know what to say.." Robin says, and Regina smiles at him.

"Does this change anything?" Regina asks him and he stands up.

"Of course not!" He says, and Regina nods.

"Then tell her that. Talk to her."

* * *

Robin heads to his daughters room and knocks on the door, opening it slightly.

"Hey Peanut." Robin says as he peaks his head through the door.

"Hey dad." His daughter says sadly from her bed, looking up from her laptop.

"Can I come in?" He asks her, and she nods, closing her laptop and placing it to the side.

"I'm sorry about before." He says softly, "Not talking to you, and walking away when I should have stayed and told you that.." Robin says, before sitting on the edge of her bed, and looking at her. "You will always be my baby girl, no matter what. I love you, unconditionally." Robin tells her, "This is just.. Different for me, this is new." Robin tells her, and she nods, wiping her tears. "I don't really understand it, but, i'd like to." Robin says with a smile that his daughter matches.

"I just.. I love girls.. The way I'm supposed to love boys." His daughter tells him, and Robin nods with a smile. "I can't picture myself ever dating a boy, or spending my life with a boy but.. I can with a girl. You know?" She tells him, and Robin looks at her.

"I.. i think so." Robin tells her, "Is there a girl now?"

"Dad.." His daughter says, pulling a face, "I'm not talking to you about this." She tells him with a laugh.

"Okay." He laughs, "I just want you to know that you can, okay?" He tells her, "Who you love doesn't change anything." Robin says, and she pulls herself into him, and he wraps his arms around her.

"I love you." He tells her, and she laughs.

"I love you too, daddy." She says softly, and pulls away. "Now get out of my room." She jokes and he holds his hands up in surrender.

"I'm going, i'm going." He laughs, and heads out of the room.

Once he's back in their bedroom, Regina looks up from her book.

"How is she?" She asks.

"We talked. I think it's all okay now." Robin tells her.

"Good. I'm glad." She says, putting her book down and once her head is on the pillow she turns to face him when he asks, "How did you know?"

"I put two and two other." Regina told him, and Robin smiled, and placed a kiss on her lips.

"You're amazing." He tells her, and she laughs.

"I know." She smirks. Robin kisses her again and pulls her into his arms.

"I did some looking on the google." Robin tells her, and Regina laughs, rolling her eyes at _the google._

"You did?" Regina asks him, "For what?"

"I wasn't sure. However, I found out they have flags and lots of other stuff for things like this."

"They do." Regina laughs.

"I'm buying her a flag." Robin tells her, staring into the distance, running his fingers down her arm, Regina smiles.

"I'm sure she'd love that."

The girl did love it. Her dad bought the flag home with pride, and they hung it in her room. Robin also went on to buy anything he found with a rainbow.

They then drove to New York that year for PRIDE.

Robin had a blast. He came home with posters, ornaments and mugs.

* * *

It was her twenty first, and the family were in the kitchen planning the party she'd begged for when she told them about Alice.

"Oh, and you guys get to meet Alice." Their daughter said, and Regina stopped plating the food, Robin stopped taking a sip of his drink, and her brothers looked at her with wide eyes.

"Alice?" Robin asks, "I thought you were dating Chloe?"

"Chloe? I swear you were dating a girl called Olivia." Henry tells her, a look at his wife, Ella, who shrugged her shoulders and carried on feeding their eight month old.

"No, her name's Sam, I literally met her maybe two months ago." Roland says, before a small ouch escapes his lips as a pinch goes into his ribs from his girlfriend.

"Who's Alice?" Regina asks her after a few moments of silence while every stares at the speechless birthday girl.

"She's her newest spice." Roland laughed, and ducked when Henry threw a flannel at him.

"Alice.. Is my girlfriend." She tells her mother, who smiled.

"What happened to Chloe?" Her father asked innocently.

"And Olivia." Henry says.

"And Sam." Roland laughs.

Robin and Regina looked at each other, raising eyebrows and then back to their original task.

"We.. broke up. It's not relevant." The birthday girl tells everyone.

Roland laughs, before saying "My sisters slept with half the girls in her dorm. Go sis!"

Henry laughs into his cough, Regina stands with her mouth open, unsure of what to say, but a slight smirk on her face, Ella and Paige look at each other with pierced lips and Robin chokes on his drink.

"You're not funny." She tells her brother, hitting him with the back of her hand on his head.

"So, Alice. How did you meet her?"

"She's Fake Hook's daughter.. They moved here from the other realm recently."

"Huh.." Regina says with a nodd.

"What?" She asks her mother.

"Nothing, I'm just.. Shes.." Regina says.

"A freak." Roland finishes for his step mother, who scolds him with her eyes and he mouths the word 'sorry'.

"She's not a freak. She's nice. And you'll be nice to her when she gets here on Saturday."

* * *

Alice walks through the door half an hour into the party, and smiles at the family dynamic they have. She notices a mixture of different people around the house. The charming family. Her dad's twin, his wife, Emma and their daughter. She notices Rumple and Belle chatting with Archie. She smiles at how loved her girl is in this town.

"Alice!" She hears her girlfriend shout, "Hey! I'm glad you came." She smiles, and Alice cant help but smile back.

"Of course I came." Alice says, "Happy birthday." She says, holding up a large bag, and places a kiss on her lips.

"Ew, gross. Get a room." Roland says as he passes them.

"Shut up." His sister hisses, and he laughs.

"Roland, I'm guessing?" Alice laughs, as does her girlfriend

"Come on, I want you to meet my parents."

"Sure." Alice says with a smile.

They head into the kitchen where her parents were hidden away, deep in conversation, Regina laughed at something he said and Alice smiled.

"Your parents look really happy." Alice tells her, and the girl smiles.

"They are." She laughs, "It gets annoying."

"Hey." Regina says with a smile when she spots her daughter.

"Hey." She replies, "This.. is Alice."

"It's nice to meet you, Alice." Regina says, smiling.

"Ditto, your majesty," Alice stutters, and Regina laughs.

"Regina's fine, Dear." She says, and Alice nods.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alice." Robin says, and holds out his hand, which Alice takes.

"Pleasures all mine,sir."

"She's polite." Robin winks to his daughter, while Regina laughs in the background.

"You really don't have to call him sir, Alice. He's just a thief." She said, and pulled her tongue out at her dad playfully.

"An honorable thief." Alice told her,and Robin smirked at his daughter.

"Team Robin, Am i right?" Robin laughed, and held his hand up, and Alice laughed before high fiving it with a "Hell yeah"

"I feel betrayed." She said, and the new duo laughed.

"Sorry babe." Alice told her with a laugh.

"Were going." The girl said with a fake pout, and dragged her girlfriend out of the room.

"Made a new friend?" Regina asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Jealous?" He asked her playfully.

"No." Regina said, "The boys and their girls would choose me over you any day.. You need someone on your side."

"Ouch." Robin laughed, and pulled her in for a kiss.

* * *

Robin and Alice formed a great bond. They had the same humor, the same interests, and his daughter has never felt happier. For their first anniversary, her dad and her girlfriend performed a routine dance that ended up with a proposal.

She said yes of course.

* * *

"Robin!" Regina shouts from the bottom of the stairs as she places in her earring. "We cannot be late to our daughter's wedding."

"I'm coming!" He shouts down, and runs down the stairs, and she laughs at the sight of him.

"You're not wearing that." She says to him, and points at his rainbow tie.

"Why not?" He says with a frown, looking down at it.

"Because its her wedding day, not her fancy dress on her tenth birthday." Regina laughs, and Robin pouts and looks down at it. "Also, your suit is burgundy, it doesn't match." She says, pushing her

shoulder length hair over her shoulder.

"You look.. Amazing." He tells her, and she smirks over her shoulder. Her dress was the same dark burgundy shade he was wearing, their daughter insisting all couples must wear matching colors. It was floor length, with a slit in the left leg. Robin traced his fingers up her showing leg, and kissed her softly.

"Oh my god!" Henry shouted and turned around, "I knew I should have knocked." He laughs. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Cool tie Dad." Roland laughs as he points.

"Thanks. I'm not allowed to wear it." Robin fake complains, taking it off, and Henry laughs as he hands him the burgundy tie hanging on the stairs.

"Good. It doesn't go with the suit." Henry laughs.

"Lets go." Roland complains, "Is this the reason you were late to Henry's wedding?" Roland joked.

"Don't think I've forgotten about that by the way." Henry said, and Regina rolled her eyes.

"We were two minuets late, Ella wasn't even walking down the aisle."

"Because you had her shoes." Henry laughed, and Regina pulled a 'whatever' face and walked past him and the family followed.

* * *

"You ready Peanut?" Robin asked his daughter as she looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath.

"I think so." She smiled, and Robin cleared his throat to get rid of the lump forming.

"You look beautiful." He told her, and she smiled, looking back at him in the mirror.

"I know it's not accurate because she's not my birth mother but.. I think I look a little bit like mom did on her wedding day, right?" His daughter asked her, and Robin smiled.

"I see it." Robin told her, and she smiled.

"Dye my hair black and i'm her double right?" The bride laughed, and Robin laughed.

"You are her blood relative. You look more like her than you think." Robin told her.

"Thanks." His daughter smiled.

"Let's get you married."

With his daughter's arm linked in his own, Robin walked her down the aisle, sending a wink to his wife on the way down, who threw one right back at him.

The couple sat next to each other, hand in hand as their daughter recited her vows, cheered as loud as they could for the first kiss.

* * *

As all the couples slowly danced around the room, Regina and Robin swayed in each other's arms.

"Did you ever imagine we'd be here?" Robin asked her, "After everything we've been through?"

"I.." She says, and looks at him, "Honestly? I had my doubts." She laughed, "Didn't you?"

"No." Robin smiled at her, "I knew that no matter what, I would do anything I could to make sure we ended up together."

"Really?" She asked him, and he nodded.

"Even when I was in New York those many moons ago, I always knew I'd work towards getting back to you." He told her, and Regina smiled.

"I love you." She tells him.

"And I love you, so very much more." Robin replies, and Regina laughs and sways in his arms again.

"..Can i go put on my rainbow tie now?" He smirks, and she laughs, before agreeing.


	2. Tuesday- Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oq + drugs   
> high school au   
> 44   
> 207

The alarm blared through the girls room, and she groaned, before slamming it off with her palm. Regina rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling, before gently grabbing the necklace round her neck, and sighed.

"Happy Birthday to me." She said sadly, "I miss you Daddy. You always made this day a little bit better." Regina said into the air, and closed her eyes, taking a breath before sitting up. Her phone buzzed on her side table, catching her attention, she moved to get it when she noticed her nine year old step sister peeking through her door shyly. Regina smiled softly, and tilted her head, letting the little girl know she was welcome to come in.

"Happy Birthday." The young girl, Mary, said to her in a quiet voice, but a huge smile.

"Thank you, sweetie." Regina said in a soft voice. The young girl passed her a card that she'd made herself at school the day before, and Regina couldn't help but smile.

"I made it for you." Mary told her, "I know this is your first birthday without your dad. I wanted you to smile." The child said as she fidgeted with her fingers nervously.

"Thank you." Regina said. "I love it."

"Really?" The nine year old beamed, and Regina nodded, before the girl ran into her step sisters arm and gave her a hug. Regina hugged her back gently, and held back the tears in her eyes as she took a breath.

"Now, go and get ready. School starts soon, we don't want to be late." Regina told her, and the girl nodded, jumping from her arms and happily skipped out of her room.

Regina watched her go, and looked back down at the card Mary had handed to her. It was full of glitter, and little drawings, and the words, Happy Birthday, Gina. I'm glad you'RE my sister. Hope you have a good day."

Regina smiled at the capitalized RE, on the card that her teacher had probably corrected for her, before placing the card, stood, on her side table and grabbing her phone that was still buzzing.

"Hello." Regina said with a small grin as she read the name Mal on her caller ID.

"Happy eighteenth!" Her best friend screamed down the phone. "Another year older, how does it feel?" Mal laughed, and Regina smiled.

"It doesn't feel any different, Mal." Regina laughed, and the girl sighed down the phone.

"Please," Mal sighed, "Eighteen is a big deal. You're an adult." Mal told her, and Regina chuckled.

"I've been an adult for some time now, Mal." Regina told her, and Mal nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but this isn't you having a shit mother and having to raise yourself." Mal told her, "This is you officially being able to do whatever you want to do, forever. No strings. No permission."

"I guess it is." Regina said, and she lay back down on her bed and placed her necklace in between her thumb and index finger, and held it to her lips.

"I know this birthday is going to be difficult for you. Let me know if there's anything I can do to make it easier." Mal told her softly. "Do you want a lap dance?" She joked, and Regina laughed.

"Sure. I've got a few ones." Regina joked back, and her friend snorted.

"Me and Cru will be over in about half an hour, we have a surprise for you. Can you fit us both in that big car of yours?" Mal teased, knowing Regina got her father's Range Rover after he passed.

"Hmm, i'm sure you'll fit in the trunk." Regina teased back, and the girl on the other line chuckled.

"I'll see you soon, Happy Birthday, i love you." Mal told her, and Regina smiled.

"Thank you, I love you too. See you soon." She replied, before ending the call and sighing, before slowly getting out of bed.

Regina headed down the stairs in blue skin tight jeans and a small white vest along with a black jacket. Her long hair put in a low ponytail, her side bangs pulled out and balanced curled on each side of her face.

She entered the kitchen, and was met with Mary and Leo in conversation during their breakfast, and Cora stood leaning against the kitchen counter, reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, Regina." Cora said without looking up from her reading. "Coffee is fresh." She told her.

"Thanks." Regina said, heading around her to get to the mugs, before pouring herself one.

"Is that what you're wearing?" Leo said to her, with a raised eyebrow, and Regina looked at him before looking at her outfit.

"Why?" Regina asked him, throwing him a look of disgust as he caught his eyes wondering over her.

"Just a bit revealing. I can see your cleavage from here." Leo pointed out. Regina wrapped the jacket around her front and pierced her lips. Cora didn't even look up.

"What's a cleavage?" Mary asked, and Cora chuckled as Leo stuttered

"It's something you'll get as you get older." Regina told her with a smile, and Mary looked at her with confusion, before nodding and continuing to eat her cereal.

"I think you look really nice, Gina." Mary told her with a smile, which Regina mirrored.

"Thank you, sweetie."

The doorbell went then, and Regina placed her mug on the side and headed for the door.

"Happy birthday!" Her two friends screamed as she opened the door, and Regina laughed at the sight of them. A badge in Mal's hand, and two large gift bags in Cru's.

"Thank you." Regina smiled, and the two girls pushed themselves in her arms, holding her tightly. Before releasing her and heading into the hallway.

"How was Miss Bitch and Mr Creepy?" Cru asked quietly, and Regina threw her a look, but the blonde girl just shrugged.

"Has she even said happy birthday to you?" Mal asked her, and Regina shook her head slowly before leading the two girls into the main room of her house.

"Well," Cru said, and held up the two big bags. "Me and Mal went out last weekend and got you some stuff." She said, and Regina smiled and took the bags from her.

"Thank you." Regina said, and laughed as one bag was full of alcohol.

"That bag is for the party we're throwing at the cabin on Saturday, but we have to hide it here because if my Mom finds it she'll send me to rehab." Cru said with a laugh.

"But this bag," Mal said, and pointed at the bigger one. "Is from us, to you." The girl said with a smile.

Regina looked in and closed her eyes, before smiling.

The bag was filled with little goodies, such as face masks, pj's, framed pictures of the three of them, jewelry and some candles. But Regina pierced her lips at the sight of a teddy bear, and she looked at her friends.

"You didn't." Regina said, and her friends smiled.

"I know how much your dad meant to you, so did he." Mal told her, "He helped us with this." Mal said and pointed at the bear as Regina picked it up, and clicked the hand.

 _"Hey baby,_ " Her father's voice said, _"Happy birthday!" The man had laughed, "I am so sorry I can't be there in person to celebrate with you, and give you the bear hug I've given you since you were one, but i am with you, in spirit. Always. I love you so much, Baby Girl, and I hope that your day is filled with love and laughter, just like every other day should be. Laugh, have fun, and love. You have such a big heart Regina, and showing it is not a weakness. I love you, and I am here with you, always. Have a great day sweetheart. From, Daddy."_ Her father's voice said.

The bear stopped talking, and Regina took a deep breath, closing her eyes as tears fell down her cheek, and she laughed sadly, before looking at her friends, who were in tears all the same.

"Thank you." Regina said in a hollow voice and a smile. Her two friends nodded.

"Of course." Mal said, and pulled Regina into a hug. "He's so proud of you." Mal whispered, and Regina nodded.

"Are you okay?" Mary said gently as she entered the main room, and Regina sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"I'm fine." Regina smiled, "Are you ready?" She asked her, and the nine year old nodded

Regina placed the bear back in the bag and cleared her throat.

"I'll be right back and then we can go." Regina told her, and headed up the stairs with both the bags.

"What's a cleavage?" The nine year old asked the two blondes, and the two made eye contact, before stuttering.

Regina headed back down the stairs, makeup re applied not a few minutes later, and Cru let out a 'Thank god' and turned around.

Cora headed into the main room as Regina was grabbing her bag, and cleared her throat. The two blondes took the nine year old out of the room, and with one last look, Mal nodded and exited the room.

"Happy birthday, Regina." Cora said nonchalant, as she crossed her arms.

"Thanks." Regina said, before heading out of the room, but she stopped, and turned around.

"Who reminded you?" She asked, and Cora looked up and met her eyes. "You didn't remember on your own, you never did."

"Don't be so ridiculous. I gave birth to you. I know the day you were born." Cora scoffed.

"Sure." Regina said, and rolled her eyes.

"Stop with the attitude, Regina. You may be eighteen now but you don't get to behave like a brat." Cora scolded, and Regina looked down.

"Right." She said, "I'll see you later." Regina told her, before leaving the room and closing the door, leaning against it slightly. She took a deep breath and placed her hand in her coat pocket, and pulled out a bottle of painkillers she'd been prescribed a month ago for her pulled hamstring from cheer, and popped the last two, before swallowing them dry and heading out of the house.

* * *

Robin was half way through his breakfast when his sister sighed heavily with a snarky laugh.

"What?" Robin asked his younger sister, Zelena.

"Mal's post about Regina." The redhead said with a roll of her eyes, "Look at this." She said, and showed him her phone, "Anyone would think they were the nicest group of girls to ever exist."

Robin laughed, and scrolled through the pictures.

"Come on, they're not that bad. And Regina's nice." Robin told her, before handing the phone back to her.

"Please." Zelena rolled her eyes, "They're bitches. They think they own the school." Zelena says, "And of course you think Regina's nice, you've had a crush on her since the 8th grade." Zelena laughed.

"Funny." Robin said with an eye roll, "No. I think Regina is nice because she is nice." Robin tells her, "Cru.. well, yeah, I can see why you might think she was a bit of a bitch." Robin laughs.

"They're all bitches." Zelena said, "Of course you don't see it, Mr Footballer." Zelena mocked, and Robin threw her a mocked smile.

"Who's a bitch?" Their father said as he entered the kitchen.

"These girls from school." Zelena said, and Robin rolled his eyes once again.

"How come?" Their father asked.

"She's just butt hurt because their cheerleaders and she can't sit with them in the cafeteria." Robin teased in a fake sad voice, and she threw him the middle finger, which he threw back.

"Enough of that, you two." Their mother scolded. "You're going to be late for school. Off you go." Their mother tells them, "Oh and Robin, don't forget we need you behind the bar tonight starting at seven, Will called in sick."

"Yeah I know." Robin says, "I'll see you guys later." Robin says, and Zelena grabs her bag and follows her older brother out of the house with a quick goodbye to her parents.

* * *

Robin made his way to his locker before his first class to grab the books he would need when he heard her, her laugh, to be more specific. He opened his locker and turned his head to the left and spotted her walking down the corridor with Mal and Cru at either side of her. She was wearing a huge '18' badge on her left side, and smiled in the direction of one of the girls who'd just wished her a happy birthday. He watched her as she walked, her head held high, her smile bright, but he always noticed that the light in her eyes had gone since her father passed. A light he'd admired since 8th grade when she was seated next to him in English.

As she passed him, their eyes caught each other, and he smiled in her direction, and his heart flipped when she smiled back.

Did he have a crush on her? Big yes.

Did he ever, ever, think he'd have a chance? Big no.

He'd admire her from afar.

Robin grabbed his books and headed to his first class, English. As he sat and joked around with one of his friends, Regina walked in and sat in her assigned seat across from him.

"Happy Birthday!" One of the girls, Ruby, said to her with a smile, and Regina laughed.

"Thank you." She said, and Ruby threw her a wink before saying,

"Meet me at the bleachers later, I've got you a little something." In a hushed tone that Robin barely catches, Regina just nods.

"You at the game tonight? It's been a month, is your hamstring better?" One of the players, Killian, asked her, and she shook her head.

"Doctors said I should be out for the rest of the season." Regina tells him, and he tuts, before smirking, and saying.

"I miss seeing you in those short uniforms." He winks, and Robin hits his arm.

"Dude." Robin says, and Killan smiles before turning back to his table, not catching Regina's eye roll.

"Shall I let Emma know you're into the uniforms?" She bites back, and Killian's smile falters, and Regina winks before turning away from him.

Robin and John laughed, and Regina smiled at them and Robin smiles back in her direction.

"Happy Birthday." Robin tells her, and she blushes slightly, pushing the stand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks." She says, and turns away from him.

It was the end of the day and the guys were training for the match starting at four, when Robin noticed Regina, Ruby and Cru under the bleachers.

"Starring again?" John teased, and Robin rolled his eyes.

"Not starring." He tells his friend, who just hums.

"Yeah, sure." He says, but Robin wasn't really listening, his eyes back on the dark haired girl bringing a cigarette to her mouth and taking a drag, before laughing at something one of the girls she was with said.

"Ladies!" A teacher shouted, and the girls quickly rushed from the bleachers and towards Regina's car, and Robin went back to his laps.

Regina and Ruby stood at Regina's car as they waved off Cru and Mal, who were heading to cheer practice for the game later on.

Ruby blew the smoke from her cigarette into the air as they waved, before she faced Regina, who was doing the same.

"I have the stuff." Ruby tells her, and Regina nods. "Are you sure this is what you want? I mean, it's hard core stuff, babe." Ruby says to her, and Regina rolls her eyes.

"Ruby.. It's a painkiller." She laughs, and Ruby drops her cigarette and puts it out with the heel of her shoe.

"No, a pain killer is ibuprofen, or you know, even Vicodin." Ruby tells her, "this is Percocet. This is for severe pain."

"And I'm in severe pain." Regina tells her, which is a lie, her hamstring isn't sore anymore. "Look, if you don't want to give it to me it's fine. I can go and get-"

"No. I have it." Ruby tells her, and passes her the orange bottle, "I just want to make sure you know what this is. You take one a day, and when the pain is gone, you stop. It's a strained hamstring, it shouldn't need a whole bottle." Ruby told her, and Regina nodded, placing the bottle of pills in her coat pocket. "I spoke with Granny, she said that your hamstring injury wasn't even that bad." Ruby tells her, and Regina looks at her.

"My pain tells me differently." Regina says, and Ruby holds her hands up in defense.

"I'm not doing this again." She tells her old friend, and Regina nods.

"It's a one time thing, it's fine." The dark haired woman tells the brunette, who nods.

"Okay." Ruby says, and a car horn beeps, "I have to go. Happy birthday." Ruby tells her, and Regina smiles and waves her friend off, before sitting in her car and taking a deep breath, swallowing the lump in her throat and turning on her engine.

Regina arrived home at exactly four pm, and as she walked in the house, she wished she had just stayed for the game at school.

Mary was sitting in the main room with her dinner, watching something on the TV, while her mother and Leo were in the kitchen with Leo's business partner, Mr Gold. Regina slowly tried to sneak upstairs without being seen when her mother shouted her name.

"Regina, Dear." Cora said, and Regina turned on the stairs and gave her a fake smile. "Mr Gold's here. Come and say Hello." She told her daughter with a forceful tone, but a smile.

"Sure." She said, and headed back down the two steps she'd taken and into the kitchen.

"Regina, how are you, dearie?" Mr Gold said with a smile as she entered the room.

"I'm good, thank you." She answered with a smile, "And yourself?"

"I can't complain." He nodded with a grin. "I hear it's your birthday today?" He asks her.

"Yes, she's eighteen." Leo nodded in Mr Gold's direction.

"Eighteen, huh?" Mr Gold said, and looked at her with a smirk, looking her up and down.

Regina stopped breathing as his eyes wandered over her, and she felt herself becoming more uncomfortable.

"Gorgeous, isn't she." Cora beamed, and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Very much so." Gold nodded, Regina just smiled. "A face like that, she could get anything and anyone she wants." He says, and her mother smiles. "There are plenty of single men in our society that would kill for a date with a woman this beautiful." Leo tells them, and Cora smiles brighter.

"I'm sure there are." Cora answers, and Regina looks at her with confusion.

"I have homework.." Regina says, and Cora looks at her with wide eyes, Regina turns to face Mr Gold and smiles, "It was good to see you Mr Gold." Regina says, before slowly turning around and walking out of the kitchen, and once she was half way up the stairs, the young girl ran and closed her bedroom door, leaning against it.

Her heart hammered in her chest, bile rose in her throat and she thought she was either going to pass out or throw up, maybe both.

She sat on her bed and took deep breaths, closing her eyes. She was almost okay when her mother burst her door open, and Regina opened her eyes and flinched when the door was flung shut.

"When Mr Gold offers to set you up with his clients and business partners, you smile and you accept. You do not run out of the room." Her mother hissed at her, and Regina sat wide eyed with fear as her mother stepped closer to her. "You don't have the grades for college, you have your looks. Your looks can get you a nice husband and you can live comfortably for the rest of your life, but you have to act probably, instead of like a child!" Cora snapped in her face.

"I don't want your life, Mother." Regina tells her, and Cora just laughs in her face.

"You're nothing, Regina." Cora tells her as she looks in the eyes, "You barely scrape the grades that will allow you to graduate." She spits, "You have your looks, and you have the opportunity. You will go to the County Club with Leo on Saturday, you will smile and you will dance with whoever Leo and Mr Gold ask you to. You are not having the sad little life you keep dreaming off." Cora tells Regina, and Regina just nods.

"Now, I will pick you out of something to wear when I am shopping on Friday, are you still a size 10?" Cora asks her as she opens the door, Regina just nods once again. Cora rolls her eyes.

"You should really get back into dancing, you're putting on weight. You should be a six at the most." Cora laughs, before heading out of the room, and as Regina hears the main room door shut, she places a hand over her mouth and cries.

Regina looks at herself in the mirror, make-up re-applied. She looks at the pill bottle on her bathroom counter, before grabbing it, and popping two. She meets her eyes in the mirror, but she just rolls them, before grabbing her car keys and runs out of her room, down the stairs and out of the door without being heard, and gets into her car, before pulling out of the driveway and towards the center of town.

She finds herself outside of a small bar called 'Sherwood', at five, and she parks her car in the parking lot across from it, and walks in.

She sits at a stool at the bar, and a middle aged man walks towards her with a smile on his face.

"There's no way you're old enough, darling." He tells her gently, and she pulls the ID she carries from her purse and slams it on the bar.

"My apologies." He nods, Regina takes the ID back and places it in her purse again.

"What can I get you?" He asks her, and she sighs.

"Something strong." She replies, and he chuckles, turning around and grabbing a whiskey off the shelf and pouring her a double.

"Bad day?" He asks her as he places it in front of her.

"You have no idea." She says, and downs the whiskey straight, and embraces the burn in her throat.

"Another?" He asks her, and she nods.

She has another three in the next fifteen minutes before she moves to vodka, but she sits with that one, and watches the man talk to his other customers, before her mind replays the last hour of her life, and how she now feels like her life has been sold off to the highest bidder.

* * *

Robin quickly ran into the back room and put on a dark shirt before running into the bar, bumping into his father on his way.

"Hey, where are you off in such a hurry?" His father laughed, "Were busy, but not that busy. No need to break your neck."

"Right." Robin laughs, and his father grabs his shoulder in greeting.

"Did you win?" His father asked.

"Yeah." Robin says, "I'm knackered." He tells his father.

"I'll tell you what, work until half nine, and if it quiets down, you can head home."

"Thanks Dad." He says, and the two of them head into the bar again, before Robin grabs his father's arm and pulls him back.

"Have you been serving her?" Robin asks him, and they both look towards the heavily intoxicated young woman, who, along with three other men who looked to be in their late twenties take a shot.

"Yeah.. is that a problem?" His father laughed, and Robin sighed.

"That's Regina. I go to school with her." Robin tells his father, whose laugh stops instantly.

"She's.. eighteen?" His father asks him and Robin nods.

"Today." He tells him, and his father shakes his head.

"She had a legit ID, I didn't know." He tells his son, who smiles.

"I'll get her out, don't worry." Robin says, and heads into the bar.

Regina laughs at one of the men sitting next to her, when the light she was in front of is blocked by something, and she turns her head as someone clears their throat.

"Hey Regina." Robin says.

Regina looks at him, and clears her throat, before smiling.

"Hey." She says, her eyes heavy, her voice slurred, her posture weak.

"What are you doing here?" He asks her with a smile that matches her own cheeky one, and she giggles. And Robin knows that is a sound he wants to hear from her again.

"Drinking." She says, like it's obvious. "What are you doing here?" She asks, and pokes him in the chest as she laughs.

"Working." He tells her, and she coughs, and sits up.

"You work here?" She asks him, and the man next to her slides over another drink.

"We were having some fun here, so if you could go back to another corner.. That would be great." The older man slurs, and places a hand on Regina's thigh, and Robin sees her tense.

"She's eighteen, and the police are on their way." Robin deadpans, "You wanna stick around for when they show up?" Robin tells them, and the group of men hold their hands and up and walk away.

Robin looks back at Regina who's staring at him wide eyed and he smiles.  
"I was lying." He tells her, "The police aren't on their way." Robin tells her, and he watches her relax. "But you are going to have to leave." He tells her, and she rolls her eyes.

"I have an ID. It's fine." Regina tells him, and he shakes her head.

"I know you're underage, that makes this a crime." Robin tells her, "I like you Regina, but not enough to go to jail for you." He jokes, and she looks at him.

"Fine." She says, and downs the last of her drink before grabbing her car keys from her bag and he shook his head.

"I can't let you drive, Regina." He tells her, "You're drunk."

"I'm fine." She tells him, and stands up, before grabbing the bar to steady herself.

"You're not fine. You've been drinking for hours." Robin tells her, and she stares at him. "Let me call you a cab, okay?" He says.

"Fine, whatever." She says, and he heads towards the phone. He began to dial the number when he heard the door open, and he cursed under his breath.

"Go, she can't drive in that state." His dad told her, and Robin rushed out the door.

"Regina." He tells her, and she turns on the curb and faces him, stumbling to her left and almost falls but he grabs her hips and holds her up.

"Let me drive you home, okay?" Robin says to her, but she pushes herself out of his hold and stumbles slightly, before balancing herself.

"I told you, I'm fine." Regina slurs, falling back slightly and dropping her car keys on the floor. She bends down to get them before she loses her footing, and Robin quickly grabs her again before she falls into the road. He gently leans her against his father's car in front of the bar, and grabs her keys off the floor, and looks at her.

"Let me drive you home." He says to her softly, and she meets his eyes, and he smiles as she tilts her head.

"I'm fine." She says slowly, "I can walk."

"Regina, no." He says, and starts to follow her when she turns to face him.

"Why do you even care?" She laughs, "You barely know me."

"Regina, we've been in the same classes since the eighth grade, just because we aren't really close friends doesn't mean i'll allow you to walk home by yourself in this state." He tells her, and she laughs.

"I'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?" She says, raising both her arms in the air, causing her to drop both her jacket and her bag on the floor. She curses under her breath and bends down to get them, and Robin walks over to help her up.

"Will you just let me drive you home?" He laughed.

"No." She tells him, and took his offered hand to help her up, "Like i said im-"

"Fine." He finished for her, "Yeah, I just don't believe you."

Regina stands up and walks backwards, and Robin sighs.

"I'll walk you home then." He tells her, and she stops.

"Why?" She asks him, and he smiles.

"Because you're a drunk young girl and the world doesn't seem to look after those the way they should." Robin tells her, and she tilts her head to the side.

"Why do you care what happens to me?"

"Why don't you?" He asks back to her, and she stutters on her next sentence, unsure of what to say.

"Now, are you going to let me drive you home or are you going to make me walk all the way to your house and all the way back?"

"I-" Regina says, but stops talking when a woman with a police badge walks towards them, and she looks at him with a look of betrayal that makes his heart feel heavy. "You told me you didn't call the cops." She says to him, and he looks at her with confusion, before turning. He looks back at Regina.

"I didn't." He tells her, "That's my Mum, she's just got off work." He tells her, and she releases a breath.

"Is everything okay over here?" The woman asks, and Robin smiles.

"It's fine." He says, and the woman looks over to Regina, who she notices straight away is far too intoxicated to be standing in the middle of the street.

"Are you okay, Sweetheart?" She asks her, and Regina smiles.

"I'm fine." She says, and Robin rolls his eyes, "I was just leaving." She says, and steps backwards, before turning her back to them.

"Regina," Robin sighs, as she staggers three steps forwards. "Will you just let me drive you home?" He asks her one last time, and she turns, and finds that the police officer has taken a step towards her.

"Does my son have your car keys?" She asks Regina, who nods slowly.

"Okay." She smiles, "Robin." She says, and turns to face her son, "Pass me the keys." She says, and Robin pulls a shocked face, before handing them over.

The older woman hands Regina her keys with a smile, which Regina accepts cautiously and slowly with a careful look on her face. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to head home on your own." The woman tells her.

"What?" Regina asks, confused.

"We're going to get into my car and i'm going to drive you home." The woman says, "I'm also going to have to speak to your parents about your underage drinking."

"No, really it's okay." Regina rushes out, "Robin can take me home, right?" She says, and looks at Robin with extreme fear in her eyes.

"Yeah, of course." Robin says with a smile, and Regina smiles back, but the older woman shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, but i have to take you home, it's my job." The woman says, and Regina opens her mouth to speak but has nothing to say. "My car is just over here." She says, but Regina doesn't move, and her eyes go to Robin.

"Mum, honestly I can take her home." Robin tells her, "It's fine."

"I'm sorry, but, this is my job, she's drinking underage, she's stumbling over the streets and she's obviously intoxicated with something other than booze with the way she can't hold herself up." The woman says, but mostly to Regina, who looks at her with sadness.

"Are you serious?" Regina laughs, "You're really going to start a rumor that I have a drug problem in front of someone I go to school with? What kind of cop are you?" She shouts, "The hell is wrong with you." She slurs, and grabs her hand away from the woman, "Screw you." She bites at the woman, who stands in front of her, "Screw both of you."

"Regina.." Robin says as she walks backwards, away from them, and looks at his mother, "Well done." He says, and rolls his eyes. His mother stands there, shocked, as her son gently grabs the young girl and pulls her back onto the path after she falls into the road.

"I'm going to take you home, okay?" Robin says to her softly, and the girl nods slowly, ignoring the tears filling in her eyes, and she gracefully takes his arm and holds herself up. He leads her to the car he shares with his dad, and opens the door for her, and when she's in, he walks around the car and looks at his mother.

"What did you say that for?" He asks her, and the woman looks at him.

"Because she's on something.." She tells her son, and he laughs.

"Yeah. I know." Robin tells his mum, "But that doesn't need to be known to her. She goes to my school Mum." He tells her, "She didn't need me knowing she was on something." He tells her.

"I didn't know she'd react like that." She said, "You need to be careful, she's obviously not very well."

"Her dad died eight months ago and her mother married Leo White six months ago. It would be weird if she was 'well'" He air quoted, and opened the car door, "Just, stick to homicides and dead people, okay?" He jokes with her, and she laughs, and nods, before watching her son drive off.

In the car, Regina was silent, staring at the road in front of her.

"I'm not on drugs." She tells him, and he looks at her and smiles.

"I know." He tells her, and she faces him. "You pulled your hamstring right? The painkillers for that don't mix very well with alcohol. Probably why you couldn't catch your balance." He tells her, all to make her feel more comfortable.

"Yeah." She says, and turns away from him.

"I left my car at the parking lot across from the bar." She says, "I need it to get to school tomorrow."

"I'll get it to you." He says, "Are you going to tell me your address or are you going to have me drive in circles and guess?" He asks, she laughs at that, and his heart skips at the sound

"102 Mifflin street. The White estate." Regina says, and Robin nods.

"How are you going to get my car to me by tomorrow morning?" Regina asks him.

"Let me worry about that, okay?" He laughs, and she smiles before facing forward again.

"How come you ended up at my bar anyway?" Robin asks her.

"Your bar?" She says with a raised eyebrow.

"My dad owns it." He tells her, and she nods.

"I had an argument with my mother, and wanted to clear my head."

"Your mother argued with you on your birthday?" Robin asks, Regina looks down at her hands, "Are you okay?" He says to her.

"Yeah. It was nothing." She tells him, "It's.. just been hard since my dad passed away, that's all."

"I'm sorry." He tells her, and she smiles at him with a nod.

"Yeah." She says quietly.

"It must be really hard without him today."

"It is."

They arrive at her house, and Robin turns off the engine and looks at her.

"Here." He says, and writes his number on a post-it in the car and passes it to her.

"Like you said before, we barely know each other, so, if you ever need to talk to someone, you can call me. No judgement, no strings, just a friend. No baggage." He tells her, and she smiles as she takes it from him.

"Thanks." She says, and opens the car door. "I'll see you tomorrow." Regina tells him as she steps out of the car.

"See you tomorrow."

Robin watched from his car as Regina stumbled up her path and into her front door, and once he saw the door shut, he started his engine, and drove off.

* * *

Regina walked into her house quietly, and took a deep breath as she tiptoed into the hallway and made her way upstairs, she sneaked past Mary's room, knowing that it was just gone eight, so she was most likely still awake.

She pushed her bedroom door open, and jumped when she was met with her mother, sat on her bed, straightening the sheets with her hands as she crossed one leg over the other and looked at her.

"Do you take me for a fool, Regina?" Cora said, and looked up towards her daughter.

"No.." Regina tells her, leaning against her door for stability.

"I came to tell you that Leo had prepared some dinner for us, but imagine my surprise when I found your room empty." Cora told her in a simple tone. "I look outside, and your car is gone."

"I'm sorry I just, I needed to clear my head." Regina tells her.

"I can smell the alcohol from here." Cora snaps at her, "You can't even stand straight." Cora tells her. "Do you think your father would be proud of you right now? In this state?" Cora spits at her. Regina closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, refusing to allow her mother see her cry. "He would be so disappointed in you right now." Cora told her daughter.

Regina felt her heart sink and her stomach flip.

"Stop it." Regina said in a low voice, her eyes closed as she held back tears. Cora's laugh mocked her.

"You really think he'd be proud of the girl you're becoming? Flunking out of classes, drinking on a Tuesday evening, being rude to guests?" Cora asked her, "He'd be ashamed of the girl you've become Regina. He'd be appalled."

"Stop." Regina told her, and Cora stood up and walked towards her, before pressing her hand into her chests and pushing her into the door, the open palm pressuring her chest into harsh breaths.

"Your father isn't here to protect you from the world anymore, Regina." Cora tells her, and forces the girl to look into her eyes, "It's time you stop acting like he is." And with that, she lets Regina go, and opens the bedroom door. She exists and when the door closes, Regina stumbles onto her bed and her quick and uneasy breaths catch her sobs, she unevenly walks into her bathroom and falls to the floor before throwing up into her toilet.

Regina leans against her bathroom cabinet as she sits on the floor, closing her eyes as she tries to even out her breathing. Her mother's words echo in her head.

_Do you think your father would be proud of you?_

_He would be appalled._

_He would be ashamed._

_He'd be so disappointed_

Tears fell down the young girl's cheeks as her mind ran wild.

After a few moments, she lifted herself from the floor, and slowly took herself to bed, flopping onto it and curling into a ball. She reached for her phone when the sight of a yellow post-it met her eyes, causing her to smile slightly to herself. She put the number into her phone and opened messages.

_Thank you for the ride home. I appreciate it. Sorry for being such a bitch._

_Oh, and don't forget about my car._

Regina then put her phone on the bedside table and hugged her duvet close to her face as she placed her necklace into her hand and held it close.

* * *

Robin arrived home and opened his front door.

"Hey mom, I need a favor." He said as his mother was placing her plate in the dishwasher.

"Sure. Everything okay? Is it the girl?"

"No, everything's fine." He said, "It's just Regina left her car in the lot across the street from the bar, and she needs it tomorrow."

"You want me to drive it down for her before my shift tomorrow? I start at six. You can drive down in the car and I will follow, and you can drop me off at the station." His mother says, and Robin sighs, "Take it or leave it honey." She tells her son, and he nods.

"Fine." He agrees, and takes a bottle of water from the fridge before heading into his room.

Robin sat on his bed and pulled his phone from his pocket, thankful that his father had got a hold of one of the bartenders to cover his shift while he was dealing with Regina.

He saw two texted under an unknown number, and he couldn't help but smile when he realized who they were from.

_It was no problem. I'm just glad I managed to get you home. Hope you feel better tomorrow. If you need anything don't hesitate._

* * *

Regina woke up to the sound of her alarm, and it blared right through her ears. She quickly shut it off, and groaned as she opened her eyes and quickly shut them. The light coming from her window was her enemy. She slightly opened one eye and grabbed her phone off her side table to look at the time, before she noticed a text of an unsaved number. She brought the phone closer to her, and her heart jumped as she realised who it was from, and she felt herself smiling at this text. She then remembered she'd left her car in the parking lot across town, and she'd embarrassed herself in front of one of the guys from school, and she groaned again, placing her phone next to her.

Regina sat up slowly, and gently lifted herself off the bed and headed into the bathroom. She pulled a face at her reflection. Still in the same clothes as the day before, make up half removed, and her hair in what can only be described as a rock bottom bun. Her eyes caught the pill bottle Ruby had given her the day before, and she swallowed, before turning away from it and heading for the shower.

An hour later, Regina slowly made her way down the stairs, leggings and a jumper on, along with a pair of sunglasses, because Maine morning sun was a killer on any day, never mind hungover.

"Good morning Regina." Leo said with a knowing look as she headed into the kitchen, and she rolled her eyes under the glasses, but smiled.

"Morning." She said, her voice dull and low. She grabbed herself a mug and poured herself some coffee, before leaning against the kitchen counter and closing her eyes.

"You smell like whiskey." Her mother told her as she passed, and Regina nodded.

"Thanks." She bit at her mother, and Cora turned around forcefully, causing Regina to jump slightly.

"Lose the attitude. I didn't shove the alcohol down your throat." Cora snapped at her.

Regina didn't reply, instead, chose to stay quiet and sipped her coffee.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket then, and Regina put her mug down and grabbed him as she tilted her head towards Mary.

"Come on." She said with a smile, "Lets go."

Mary jumped off her chair and hugged her father goodbye, and gave Cora a wave and a smile, which the older woman mirrored falsely.

Regina stood outside and smirked to herself as she saw her car parked in the driveway.

The two girls got into her car as Regina replied to Mal, and opened Robin's contact to message him a thank you when Mary said,

"What's this?" And handed her a yellow post-it note.

**You're welcome. Look after yourself tonight.**

**You owe me one!:) - Robin**

Regina smiled, and shook her head.

"Nothing." She told her as she placed the note in her bag.

* * *

Regina arrived at school with time to spare, which surprised her.

She parked her car and waved at Ruby and her group of friends under the bleacher as she made her way over there.

"Hey babe," Ruby said, "What's with the glasses?" The girl laughed, and Regina shook her head slowly as she lit her cigarette.

"It's a long story."

"It was her birthday! Poor girls rough as a dog!" August laughed, as did the others, and Regina smiled before taking a drag of her cigarette.

"Where the hell did you go?" Ruby laughed, "You look as though you drank a bar dry."

"I feel like I did." Regina told her, "I went to Sherwoods, but, like I said, it's a long story." Regina told them.

"Sherwoods?" Will asked, "The Lockleys bar?"

"You knew Robin owned it?" Regina asked him as she exhaled her smoke.

"Yeah! His dad hired me a few months ago. I do inventory there." Will told her,

"Would have been nice to know before I-" Regina said, but just laughed and shook her head.

"You what?" Ruby asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Let me guess, It's a long story.." Killian quoted, and Regina flipped him off, as she took another drag of her cigarette.

Regina noticed him as he ran the track of the field with John and the rest of the players.

"Aren't you supposed to be part of that mate?" Will said, pointing towards morning football practice, and Killan cursed under his breath before he pushed himself off the bench and ran towards the group.

Regina watched as Robin laughed with John as she threw her cigarette on the floor and stomped it out.

"Like what you see?" Ruby asked her, and Regina blinked and looked at her friend.

"What?" She asked.

"You.. looking at Robin like he's a piece of meat, which.." She said and looked at him while whistling, "You're not wrong about."

"I wasn't looking at him like anything." Regina laughed, "I just.. Need to talk to him about something."

"What the hell happened last night?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Regina said to Will and Ruby, before winking and walking off.

Regina sat with Mal and Cru during lunch, her hand tapping on the table at her sides as she pierced her lips together and closed her eyes.

She didn't know what this feeling was, but she most certainly didn't like it. This hangover was kicking her butt.

"Babe, what the hell is wrong with you?" Cru asked her, placing her hand over her tapping one, and Regina looked at her and shook her head.

"Nothing. Sorry." She said, and clenched her hands together.

"Anyway, I've been thinking about Saturday. We're inviting the footballers right?" Mal said, and Cru laughed.

"Yes, why would we not?"

"Well, last time you hosted a party you had an all girls and gay's policy." Mal told her, and Cru rolled her eyes.

"It was Halloween. Straight men and Halloween is just a recipe for boring." Cru told her.

The two friends looked at Regina and frowned.

"Hello? Are you there?" Mal laughed, and Regina looked at him.

"Hm? What?" Regina said, shaking her head.

"What the hell is with you today?" Mal asked her.

"I'm.. hungover." Regina told them, before her eyes caught Robin and she quickly stood. "I'll be right back." She said, and she was gone.

"What a freak." Cru laughed, and Mal threw her a dirty look and watched as Regina sped towards Robin Locksley.

"What the hell does she want with him?" Cru asked Mal, who shrugged.

Regina grabbed Robin's arm's and pulled him along with her, and he loosely followed behind her with a laugh as his friends yelled.

"Regina." He said, pulling his arm free as they reached an empty corridor. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"I wanted to thank you for last night." Regina said to him, "For giving me a ride home. You really didn't have to do that." She told him with a small smile, and she smiled back with a light laugh.

"I wasn't going to let you drive, and you were walking on your own." Robin tells her, "Letting me give you a ride was more for me than you." He told her, and she chuckled, nodding her head.

"Well, either way. Thank you." She said, "And for dropping my car off."

"Well, like I said, you owe me for that one." He told her, and she smiled.

"Yes, I got your note." She told him, and his cheeky grin makes her stomach flip.

"Well, I'll cash in whenever I feel like it. Maybe i'll need a ride home one day." He joked.

"Maybe you will." She agreed, "Are you coming on Saturday?" She asked him, looking at him for the first time the entire conversation, and she swears, she's never noticed how blue his eyes are, and it kinda takes her breath away.

"To the party at the cabin? I was invited but.. It's not really my thing." Robin tells her, and she nods.

"Right. Yeah. I've never seen you at any before."

"I'll try and see if I can make it." Robin told her, and the smile he gets is enough for him to make his mind up about going on the spot. He totally is.

"I might see you there then." She says, and he smiles right back at her.

"Regina!" Mal calls from behind them, and the two of them face her. "What are you doing?" She asks.

"Nothing, I just.." She says, and looks at Robin. "I'll see you around."

"I'll see you round, Regina." He smiles, and she grins, before heading towards Mal, who throws him a questioning look, before looking back at Regina.

"What is going on with you and the mystery footballer?" Mal says, and Robin chuckles.

* * *

Regina is in fifth period when she finds the bottle of pills in her bag, and she closes her palm around them and closes her eyes.

"You okay?" Mal asks in a low tone from across the table, Regina nods, and places the pills back in her bag.

She tries to fill her mind with literally anything else, but all she hears is her mother's voice.

_You're nothing Regina._

_You're barely graduating._

_You have no future._

_Your father would be so disappointed in you._

_He'd be appalled at you._

_He would be so ashamed._

Her mouth go's dry as her body screams at her, her muscles tense and she can feel herself overheating. She begins to feel extremely nauseous, and that's when she's had enough.

Regina quickly stands, grabbing her bag and coat and heads for the door.

"Miss Mills, where do you think you're going?" The teacher, Mr Hopper asked her.

"I don't feel well." She tells him as she opens the door.

"I didn't dimiss you." He tells her, and she laughs.

"So?" She says, and swings the door open, before rushing down the hallway.

Cru looks at Mal with confusion, as Mal looks right back at her, shrugging her shoulders.

"Is she okay?" Ruby asks Cru from the seat across from her.

"I have no idea."

Robin is heading down the corridor after using practice when he sees Regina rushing towards the exit of the school.

"Regina?" He says, and she turns.

"Hey, look, I'm not in the mood okay?" She tells him, and carries on walking out of the school.

He hurries after her and catches her quickly, gently touching her arm.

"What happened?" He asks her, and she laughs.

"Nothing. I just don't feel too good. Okay? So, I'm going home." She tells him, and he looks at her.

"Are you sure that's all? You were fine earlier." He says to her.

"What the hell is your issue with me?" She snaps, "We had one conversation, you gave me a ride home, that's all." Regina says to him, "Just leave me alone. We are not friends." Regina bites at him, and walks off, and Robin stands still, before shaking his head and watching her drive off.

Regina arrives home and heads straight to her room, throwing her bag and coat onto her bed and pacing the floor. Hands in her hair as her mind screams all of her mother's words at her. She doesn't realise she's crying until she hears a sob leave her body.

She can hear her phone ringing in her bag, non stop and along with the noises in her head it was driving her insane, she grabs her bag to reach for the phone when once again she's met with the pills. Tears fall down her face as she looks at them, her mind still shouting all of her mother's harsh words at her. Regina doesn't even know she's taken two of them until they burn the back of her throat. She puts the lid back on and throws them back into her bag before grabbing her phone, turning it onto silent mode.

 _Please let me know you're okay._ Mal texted.

 _Babe what the hell? Please call me._ Cru texted.

 _Don't know what happened earlier, but I meant what I said yesterday. You can call or text me anytime. I know how much of a difficult year you've had. I'm a friend with a new outlook. I'd like to get to know the real you. No baggage._ Robin texted.

 _Please call one of us, and let us know you're not dead_. Ruby texted.

 _Did you have a melt down in the middle of psych..?_ \- Killian texted.

She threw her phone to the side of her, and took a deep breath. As her head slowed down, so did her breathing and her heart, and she found herself relaxing.

Regina picked up the phone and texted back all of her friends in the order she got them.

_I'm fine. I just had to get out of there. Hangover 1 Regina 0._

_Can I call you later? I'm just not really in the mood for talking._

_Thanks. No baggage, funny._

_I'm not dead, though I did think I was on my way out during that class. How boring._

_Yes I did. Save the irony._

Regina headed downstairs not an hour later due to her mother's shouts of her name. She followed the sound into the main room, and looked at her mother.

"I got a call from the school today." Cora said, "You walked out during the fifth period?"

"Yeah." Regina told her, "I wasn't feeling too great."

"That's no excuse. You don't just walk out of school, Regina. You're not thirteen. You're a senior." Cora said.

"You said yourself I'm barely graduating, so, what's the point?" Regina told her mother, who scoffed.

"I won't have a daughter who fails high school. Barley graduating I can live with, but a high school drop out? Next thing I know you'll be pregnant and your whole life will be over."

Regina rolled her eyes at that.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Cora snaps.

"You said I was marrying a rich man anyway, so, why should I bother?" Regina asks her, and Cora stands with her mouth open.

"If your father could hear you now…" Cora tells her, and Regina freezes.

"He'd what? Be disappointed? Ashamed? Appalled? You used those already." Regina tells her mother.

"How dare you talk to your mother like that." Leo shouts as he enters the room, "If you're going to live under my roof, you will respect your mother."

"Fine." Regina says, and looks at them both, "Can I go now?"

"Yes you can. And don't expect any dinner. You could skip a few meals, you're getting heavy." Leo tells her, and she nods, before heading back up the stairs.

Regina lay on her back, staring at the ceiling and allowed tears to fall down her cheeks silently. Her mind was empty, her eyes were heavy and she felt.. Almost peaceful. Closing her eyes, she listened to the soft sound of her own breathing, and she was out like a light in seconds.

* * *

Robin arrived home and threw his bag onto the table in the hallway and headed towards the kitchen.

"I heard Regina walked out of school today," Zelena said to him from the table, "Everyone was talking about it."

"Yeah.." Robin says, sitting at the table with her as he stole food from her plate. "Who knows what's going on with her."

"Probably has something to do with her stumbling across the street at half seven last night." Zelena laughed, "I thought she was going to get hit by a car."

"Maybe." Robin said with a nod, placing a fry in his mouth.

"Are you really still hung up on her?" Zelana asked, "She literally just barely knows you exist."

"I'm not hung up on her, I just.. I feel sorry for her. Her dad died and her mom married someone else not three months later. That would mess anyone up."

"Yeah well. It doesn't give her an excuse to be a bitch."

"She's not a bitch."

"Sure." Zelana laughs, and places her plate in the sink before walking into the living room.

Robin grabbed his phone out of his pocket, and smiled at the response Regina gave him.

_Hope you feel better soon._

* * *

Regina woke up four hours later to someone gently poking her shoulder.

"Regina.." A soft voice met her ears. "Regina."

The girl opened one eye slightly, and as it focused. Mary came into vision.

"Hey." Regina croaked out, closing her eyes again. "You okay?"

"They're shouting again." The nine year old said in a small voice. Regina opened her eyes slowly, and as she began to gather her bearings, the shouting from coming from downstairs met her ears. There were four voices.

"Who?" Regina asked her as she sat up slowly.

"Daddy, Cora, Mr Gold and Mr Nolan." Mary told her quietly, and Regina pulled a face.

"James and David's dad is here?" Regina asked, "Why?"

"I don't know." Mary shrugged, "But they weren't in school today."

Leo's voice then boomed around the house, causing both girls to flinch.

"Shut my door and get in, you can stay in here tonight, okay?" Regina said with a smile, and the girl nodded. She shut the door slowly, and ran towards the bed, jumping in and settling into Regina's left side.

"Have you eaten?" Regina asked her, noticing it was just gone seven. Mary shook her head, and Regina sighed. She grabbed her phone and pondered over Robin's name.

She would normally have Mal or Cru drop something off for her, but she knew that after today, they'd have questions, and she wasn't in the mood.

_Hey. Are you free?_

Robin was in the middle of finishing the essay due tomorrow when his phone pinged at his side. He read the message and frowned, before replying.

_Yeah. Are you okay?_

The three dots were instant, and his heart hammered in his chest.

_I'm fine, I just need a favor._

He stared at the message with confusion, before replying.

_Yeah sure, what do you need?_

The three dots went on for a while, before they disappeared, before reappearing again.

_Could you run to Mario's and pick up a large pizza? It's a long story, I'll explain when you get here._

Robin stared at his phone, unsure of what to reply to that, and decided he was going to call her.

It rang three times before she answered.

Regina stared at her phone ringing, before sitting up and answering it, heading to the window seat.

"Hey.." She said, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, and she smiled.

"Yeah. I know it's a weird request but.. My mother and Leo are in a meeting in the house and my little sister hasn't eaten and i-" Regina began to rush out her words.

"Hey, it's okay" Robin said, "I wasn't judging you, I was just calling to ask if you were okay. Do you want anything else or just the pizza?" Robin asked her.

"No, that's it." She chuckled, "Are you sure you're free? It's okay if you're busy I can get Mal or Cru-"

"Regina, it's fine. I told you, I was here if you needed anything."

"I know." She smiled. She looked back at the nine year old, and winked as she saw the girl looking at her, the child smiled.

"Just a plain cheese pizza?" Robin asked her, she could hear him heading into the street.

"Please." She said, "Ring me when you're outside. You'll have to come round the back. I'll meet you there."

"Okay. I won't be long."

* * *

Regina and Mary were talking about Mary's day while playing snap when Regina's phone rang.

She reached for it with a smile.

"Hey." She said, "Are you here?"

"Parked right outside, your pizza awaits, Millady." He teased, causing her to giggle.

"I'll be right out, head down the back, can you see the large pillar?"

"Yeah.." Robin said as he spotted it.

"Head towards it. I'll be right there."

She ended the call, grabbed a twenty from her purse and opened her window.

"I'll be right back, if they come upstairs tell them i'm in the bathroom, and were just playing a game." Regina says, and the girl nods, and watches her sister climb the ladder outside her window.

Regina jumped to the ground, and dusted off her leggings before pushing her hair over her shoulder and walking to the pillar, where she saw Robin walking.

"Hey." She smiles as she stands in front of him, "Thanks for this. I know it's super weird considering we only really started talking two days ago.." She laughed.

"It's fine. Happy to help." He smiled at her, and she looked down, blushing.

"Well, thanks anyway." She says, and takes the pizza from his hands. "Here." She says, and places a twenty in his hand.

"No." He says, trying to hand it back to her, "I won't take your money Regina. It's no problem."

"Just take it." She laughs, pushing his hand back. "I think I'll survive."

"Regina-"

"Robin." She says with a raised eyebrow, and he chuckles.

"Fine." He says, putting the twenty in his pocket. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah. It's fine. Thank you for this."

"Anytime."

"I have to get in, but, i'll see you tomorrow." Regina says.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He replied, and she smiled happily, before turning around and running back into the garden. He watched as she jumped through her window, and she threw him a wave before shutting it, and he smiled, before heading back to his car.

* * *

Regina and Mary were sitting on her bedroom floor, backs against the bed while they ate, Regina was smiling at a text from Robin.

"You like him." Mary told her with a gasp, and Regina turned to face her.

"Who?" Regina asked her.

"The boy who brought the pizza, you were smiling on the phone before, you came in with a smile and you're smiling now. You like him." Mary told her and pointed her finger.

"No I don't!" Regina laughed, her mouth open with shock.

"Yes you do!" The girl laughed.

"Eat your pizza." Regina said with an eye roll and a smirk, and the nine year old laughed, before putting a bit of pizza in her mouth.

Regina looked back at her phone, and thought.

Did she like him? She barely knows him..that would be ridiculous.

* * *

It was around ten pm, Regina lay in bed, scrolling through her phone, exchanging messages with Mal and Cru about something or nothing. She looked to her left to Mary, who was sleeping soundly. The two men had left their home maybe half an hour ago, and she could hear the muffled chats from both Leo and Cora as they headed up the stairs.

"Where is Mary? Her room is empty." Leo said as he headed down the hall.

"Have you checked the bathroom?" She said.

"Yes. She's not there." Leo said.

Regina could hear steps getting closer to her room, she threw the phone onto the table, and lay on her side, closing her eyes just in time for her door to swing open.

"She's in there." Cora told him, and Leo peaked his head through.

"What is she doing in here?" Leo asked, and Cora shook her head.

"Eating pizza, it looks like." Cora said, and headed into the room, picking up the empty box.

"I swear these girls get up to no good when our backs are turned." Leo said to his wife as she exited the room.

Regina opened her eyes as her door shut, and released a deep breath. The young girl lay next to her rolled onto her side, and placed her and on Regina's, causing the girl to smile.

She closed her eyes once again, and let sleep take her.

* * *

The next day, Regina drove Mary to school, and once she dropped her off, she was making her own way to school when she turned left instead of right, and headed home instead. She knew mother and Leo wouldn't be home for the rest of the day.

She walked into the kitchen, and got herself some water. She reached into her pocket and grabbed the pill bottle, before staring at it, spinning in in between her fingers.

She knew this was a bad habit she shouldn't pick up, but she didn't see the damage. Once it was gone, it was gone, and she'd be fine. What's the harm? She thinks to herself, she knows her Mom pops a pill or two every morning and that women works like a well rounded machine. If it got rid of the headaches, and the dull pain in her chest at the thought of her father, then she really didn't care what it did to her.

Regina headed up the stairs and to her room, pulling out the bear Mal and Cru had gotten her, and pressed its hand, listening to her dad's voice.

Tears fell down her face as she played it. And again.

 _I love you so much sweetheart_. He told her.

Regina wiped the tears from her face and picked up her phone as it buzzed next to her.

"Hey Mal." She said, clearing her throat.

"Where the hell are you?"

"I'm at home." Regina tells her, "I still don't feel too great."

"Still? I thought it was such a hangover?"

"Yeah well.. It's sticking around."

"Jesus." Mal laughed, "How much did you drink?"

"I have no idea. Too much."

"Well, you better perk up soon, there's a party in your honor on Saturday." Cru said, and Regina laughed.

"I will be."

"I can't believe you're ditching." Mal told her, "You haven't ditched all year since Daniel went off to Harvard."

"Oh wow, make her feel worse by reminding her about her ex boyfriend." Cru said as she hit Mal's arm.

"It's fine." Regina told them, "I got over him pretty fast."

"Yeah.. I know." Killian said.

"Are you guys at the bleachers?" Regina said, "You're never at the bleachers."

"They were looking for you." Ruby says.

"Sorry to disappoint." Regina tells them

"Well, we're leaving this smoking center, you'll be in tomorrow yeah?" Mal says.

"I should be."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

The call isn't over ten minutes, and Regina takes two pills and knocks them back with the glass of water she got before.

_Where are you? Are you okay?_

Robin messages her.

_I'm fine. Just needed the day to myself. I will be in tomorrow._

She wakes at half 3 to the front door slamming shut.

"Regina!" Her mother screams and the girl jumps up, and runs down the stairs.

"Hi." Regina says from the bottom step, and her mother stands in front of her.

"I got a call from your school today, apparently you didn't go in."

"I was on my way this morning, but i felt really sick and just came home." Regina explained.

"I've heard all of this before last year, when you were gallivanting around with that boy." Cora says to her, "It was embarrassing then and it's even more embarrassing now that you're a senior."

"I-"

"No." Cora says, and holds her hand up, "I don't want to hear it. You will go to your room, complete any outstanding work and you will stay there. I don't want to see you until dinner."

"Okay."

Regina shuts her door and leans against it, her whole body felt like it was walking on a cloud.

She did what was asked of her, and completed her work in record time, her mind active and manic, she cleaned her room, and then she was shouted for dinner, which she ate in silence.

Regina didn't go into school the next day. She repeated the same cycle as she did the day before.

* * *

Friday rolled around and Regina finally showed her face at school.

"Oh my god, You're alive!" August joked, and she flipped him off before lighting a cigarette.

"I really was about to put a bid together about if you'd ever show up again." Ruby joked.

"I almost didn't, but Mal is pretty annoying when she wants to be." Regina says, and the group laughs.

Robin see's her standing at her locker, and he heads in her direction. She shits her locker and jumps as he leans against the one next to her.

"Look who's alive." He says to her, and she grins.

"Very funny." She says, and steps forward, he follows along next to her. "Will you be at the party tomorrow?"

"Of course," He says, "Wouldn't want you trying to walk yourself home again."

"Again, haha, very funny."

"I am quite the comedian." He nods with a smirk, and she scoffs with a smile and rolls her eyes. "Is there anything i should bring?"

"Just yourself, Cru bought enough alcohol to last us until Christmas."

"It's February…" Robin says, and Regina turns and faces him.

"Exactly." She says, and winks before turning and walking off in direction of her next class.

* * *

Saturday morning rolls around, and Regina is on the phone to Mal as she gets ready for her lunch with Leo and Mr Gold along with everyone in their business.

"I can't believe you even have to go to this thing." Mal tells her.

"You and me both." Regina says, zipping up the back of her knee length dress. "I hate these things."

"I know." Mal laughed, "You complain about them any chance you get i cant believe your mother still forces you to go."

"Well are you ready for the reason I'm being made to go this one?" Regina asks her.

"Of course." Mal replied. '

"My mother is trying to find me a rich husband."

"Oh my god." Mal says, before busting out in laughter. "Are you serious?"

"Yep." Regina tells her, "At this lunch I will be flocked around the place and sold to the highest bidder that meets Leo and Mr Gold's liking."

"Oh.. my god." Mal says. "That is so fucked up."

"I know." Regina says, "And this dress is awful." She says, looking at herself in the mirror.

"Is it?" Mal laughs.

"Yes!" Regina says. The dress is black and slim fitting, and just everything Regina hates.

"I look like i'm going to a funeral." Regina says, and Mal laughs, "Well, it's fitting for the occasion I guess, I am burying my free will."

"My god you're so dramatic."

"I'm not dramatic, I'm right."

"Sure." Mal says, "Look, Cru is here and we're going to set up the cabin, are you going to be able be there by seven?"

"Yeah, I should be done at this thing by four." Regina tells her, "But if you don't hear from me, I've been kidnapped and married off."

"Okay Miss Drama Queen." Mal says, "I'll see you later."

Regina arrives alongside Mr Gold and her stepfather, and she already hates everything about it.

The music.

The flowing champagne.

The food.

The people.

Regina looks at Mr Gold, who nods his head at her, and she rolls her eyes. She stands with him as Leo walks off and she looks him dead in the eye.

"How can you do this?" She asks him, "You know how hard my father worked to keep me out of this stuff." Regina tells him, "You were supposed to be his friend, yet you're falling right in my mother's trap."

"Regina, I am here for you because your father wanted you out of this. Do you really think I had to come here today?" Mr gold told her, "If i left it to Leo we'd never see you again."

Regina looks at him, and he squeezes her hand, "I am on your side, Regina."

Regina nods her head, and smiles.

Leo heads over to them, along with a man who may be in his late twenties, Mr Gold lets go of the girls hand, but remains close, and that makes Regina feel safer than she's felt since her dad passed.

The day drags on and Regina is paraded around by Leo like a show dog, introduced to hundreds of different people, and all she can do is smile and nod, answer their questions, and try and act like this isn't the worst day of her life.

She arrives home with Leo at around half three, and her mother is sat in the main room.

"How did it go?" She asked, and Leo nodded.

"It went quite well, many were quite taken with her."

"Good. I'm glad." Cora said with a smile, "Did you have fun, Regina?"

"Sure." Regina replied, "I have to go and get changed. I'm staying with Mal tonight."

"I would like to talk to you when you're ready, if you could come to my office before you leave." Leo says, Regina looks at him, then at her Mother.

"Yes, we have some things to talk to you about."

"Okay.." Regina says, before taking her leave and heading upstairs.

Once she's changed out of that horrible dress, and into jeans and a crop top, her makeup is applied more to her style and her hair is straightened, Regina heads into Leo's office to find him and her mother sat on the chairs.

"Regina, Take a seat." Leo tells her.

She does, across from them.

"As you know, college is just around the corner, but that is what we would like to talk to you about." Leo tells her.

"You won't be going to college." Her mother tells her, and Regina just looks at her, "There is a man whom you met today whose son will be graduating medical school, top of his class, and becoming a surgical intern in the summer."

"Okay?" Regina questions, wondering what this has to do with her.

"You will graduate high school, and then the two of you will be courting together." Leo says to her, and her mouth falls open.

"His father has already put a deposit down on the apartment the two of you will have for maybe the first three years before he buys you and him a house, maybe before you start a family." Cora smiles.

"What?" Regina says, "You're marrying me off to someone's son?" Regina says, and laughs, "I don't understand."

"It's quite simple, Regina. You and Todd, that's his name. You and him will spend the summer getting to know each other, and then in January, you and him will be married and move into the apartment bought for you in New York."

"New York?" Regina says.

"Yes. You will be looked after for the rest of your life."

"I don't want to marry Todd and live in New York, I don't even know him." Regina laughs, "This is a joke right? You're winding me up?" Regina laughs.

"No." Leo says, and her laughter stops, "This is quite serious."

"This is happening Regina, get used to it."

"You're…" Regina says, but stops and looks to the ground, "No."

"What do you mean, No?" Cora says, "This is happening Regina, no matter what you say."

"Todd is a great man, he is looking forward to meeting you."

"Is he.." Regina says, finding it hard to believe that he wants any part of this either.

"It's time you accept this Regina." Cora tells her, "Now, off you go, have a great weekend with Mal, tell her mother i said hello."

"Sure." Regina says, and leaves the room.

She walks away from the office in shock, her eyes wide as she replays what just happened. She grabs her coat and is pulled from her thoughts when something hits the floor and rolls.

The pills.

She picks them up and places them back in the pocket of her jacket, before grabbing her phone from her back pocket.

_on our way to pick you up now, see you soon._

The text from Ruby says from ten minutes ago, and before she can reply, there is a horn outside.

She puts her jacket on and heads out.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She smiles at Mary, who's heading down the stairs.

"Bye!" Mary says with a smile, and Regina's gone. But not before she pops two of her pills. Tonight will be a good night, and this is how she knows to make sure it is.

* * *

The party is in full swing when Robin arrives with Will, John, August and Killian at nine.

He notices Regina straight away, laughing with Ruby and Mal, holding a cup of god knows what.

"See you guys later." He says, and pats them on the back and heads for the drinks table.

Robin and Will head into the kitchen, and August hands them a beer.

"Cheer up." He says to them, "It's a party!" He cheers, and so does the room.

"You came." Regina says, and he turns to find her standing behind him, her smile wide.

"I said I would." He tells her.

"I'm glad you did." Regina says, "Come on, I'll show you where the real party is." Regina says to him, and takes his hand, before leading him into the side room, where Mal, Cru, Ruby, Killian and a group of others are sat.

"Is that everyone?" Ruby says, and Regina nods, shutting the door. Robin noises she still hasn't let go of his hand, and as he looks up she finds her staring at Mal, who's looking at her with a raised eyebrow and looks towards their hands, and she quickly lets it go. Looking at him with a shy smile, before tilting her head, and the both of them join the circle.

"Is everyone in groups of two?" Ruby asks, and everyone nods, and Regina winks at him, telling him he's with her, and he smirks.

"Okay. Let's play."

Robin got the hang of True American quicker than he thought, and he realised there that Regina's laugh wasn't just infectious to him, it had an effect on everyone.

* * *

Robin drifted back to his group of friends later on that night.

Regina was in the back with Ruby, Killan and Will.

"Anyone want one?" Killian said, holding up a small bag of small pills.

"What is it?" Regina laughed, stomping her cigarette out.

"Does it matter?" Killian laughed, and Ruby grabbed it.

"Not to me." She laughed, and passed one to the group.

Everyone placed it in their mouth, and downed their drink.

"What was it?" Ruby laughed, and Killian placed his cup down and lit another cigarette.

"Just something to lighten everyone up, it takes a while to kick in, but we'll be having a good time in no time." Killian says, "We got each other, right? What's the worst that could happen?"

The other three cheered, and smashed their glasses together with a laugh.

The worst that could happen?

Well, That would be mixing Percocet, with both alcohol, and another party drug.

After half an hour Regina loses all sense of who she is, where she is or what is going on. She is sliding across the wall trying to get to the bathroom when Mal finds her.

"Hey, where have you been?" Mal laughs, a little stumble in her step.

"Huh?" Regina says, closing her eyes, before opening them again and leaning against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Mal asks her, placing an arm on her shoulder. "What have you drunk?"

"I don't-" Regina says, but can't form the sentence, and Mal gently leans her against her, and walks her to the bedroom to the left of them and sits her down.

"Regina, have you taken something?" Mal asks her, knowing that Ruby and Killian are known for their wildness. "Regina." Mal says, and lifts her girl's head off her shoulder.

Regina's eyes are half closed, her body has no posture and her neck is falling to the left.

"My god." Mal says, and worry sets in her gut when her friend's head falls forward. She panics, and shouts John, who was walking past.

"John!"

"Is that Regina? What happened to her?"

"I don't know." Mal says, "I need you to get someone she trusts, I need help with her, maybe get Cru, or.. Robin maybe. I don't know."

"I'll see who I can find."

John rushes back into the main room, and he notices Robin first, and rushes to him.

"Dude." He says, "I need you to come with me." He says quietly to Robin, who looks at him.

"Are you okay?" He laughs, but his laugh falters at the look on his face. "What is it?" Robin says.

"It's Regina." He whispers, and Robin follows his friend across the cabin.

"Regina, babe i need you to stay awake." Mal says as she taps Regina on the cheek. The girl just makes a small sound, and her head falls forward again.

Robin walks into the room then, and Mal releases a breath.

"Oh thank god." Mal says, "I need you to help me get her to the bathroom." Mal says.

"Sure." Robin says, and helps the girl lift her friend.

As they reach the bathroom, John shuts the door from the outside and stands in front of it, per Mal's request to not let anyone come in.

They leaned Regina against the bath and Robin placed a cold cloth on her face.

"We need to find out what she's taken." Robin tells Mal, who nods.

"I know who to ask. I'll be right back." Mal tells him, "Are you okay with her? She'll throw it up soon." Mal tells him, "You don't have a fear of sick do you?" She teased, and Robin looked at her with an eye roll.

"No, I'll be fine. Don't be long." He tells her, and she nods and exits the room.

"You okay?" He asks her as her head drops to his shoulder, and she makes a little hum sound, and he chuckles. "What have you done to yourself?"

Five minutes later, and her head is in the toilet, her whole stomach lining coming up as Robin holds her hair back.

Mal marches up to Killian and slaps him right across the face, and he looks at her with shock.

"What the hell was that for?" He slurs.

"What did you give her?" Mal asks him, and Killian just looks at her blankly. "Regina." She tells him, "What did you give her?"

"Just a little something, she's had it before. Why, is she crying in the corner somewhere?" Killian laughs.

"No you idiot!" Mal shouts, "She's half dead in the bathroom." She tells him, "What did you give her?" Mal asks him again.

"Just a bit of MDMA." Killian tells her, "We had it last time, she was fine."

"Yeah." Mal says, "Last time she was popping pain killers like it was a hobby." Mal spits at him, and the group go silent as Mal walks away.

"She's gonna be okay, right?" Killain shouts.

"You better hope so, or i'll have you sent down for murder!" Mal screams back, and Killan looks at the ground.

Regina groans as she throws up the last little something she thinks she ever ate in her life.

"I'm going to die." Regina says, and leans back on the bath and places her head on Robin's shoulder. "This is it."

"You're very dramatic."

"I'm not dramatic. I am dying."

"You're fine." Robin tells her, "Can you tell me anything about what happened tonight?"

"No." Regina says, and closes her eyes.

The door bursts open, and Mal walks in.

"Oh, you're alive then." She says, with an eye roll.

"Yes, sadly."

"Don't say that. I thought you were about to drop dead." Mal tell her.

"Sorry."

"How many times do i have to tell you not to take anything Killian gives you've taken something before hand?" Mal says, "I've put up with your 'hamstring' for weeks now, Regina but this is it. You have a problem."

"I'm f-"

"Fine, yeah so you keep telling everyone. But here we are, in a bathroom."

"Give it a rest, Mal." Regina groans.

Mal laughs and holds her hands up.

"You know what? Fine. Sort yourself out from now on." Mal tells her, with a laugh. "I have stuck by you through everything, Regina. But i won't sit and watch you kill yourself.. I can't." She says, before walking off.

Regina takes a breath, and looks at Robin.

"You're still on the pils?" He asks her, and she lifts her head up.

"No." She says, "Its-"

"Yeah." Robin says, "It's fine, right?"

Regina stays silent, sitting next to robin, sipping on the water John bought in for her.

"My mom told me today that she's deciding i'm not going to college." Regina says to him, circling the cup with her fingers.

"You're mother can't decide that, can she?"

"Well, yeah." Regina laughed, "money has to come from somewhere and she won't pay it." She told him with a laugh.

"I thought your dad-"

"Yeah, he did. And then he died." Regina tells him, "Took my freedom with him."

"What did your Mum say?"

"That she and Leo have found me a husband.. One of Leo's business partners' son is a doctor or something." Regina tells him and he shakes his head with a huff.

"How do you feel about that?"

"I don't even know him." Regina say's, "I'm never going to be free of her, ever."

"Not with this behavior." Robin tells her, and she looks at him

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No."

"Good. Because it didn't."

"If you want to be free of your mother, you'll have to work for it. You have to stop with the drinking, and the drugs." He tells her, "You have to actually show up for school, and not cause scenes in class that get you kicked out."

"Why should I bother? Once I graduate.. She's shipping me off to New York.

"You could get a scholarship.. Me and John have one at Bucks for our football, I'm sure there's one for cheer."

"I can't dance for the rest of the season. That wasn't a lie."

"With your grades then." Robin says, and Regina scoffs and shakes her head. "You're smart, Regina. We've been in the same classes for four years. I know you're smart.

"Not smart enough."

"Then study."

"Listen, i had a dad, okay? And he died, then I got a new one, I don't need a new new one." She told him with a smile, and he nudged her arm.

"I'm being serious. If you want to be free of your mother you have to work for it, and not act like your life is over just because she said so."

"Thanks.." Regina said after a few moments.

"Thank me by trying."

"Okay." Regina says, "I'm going to try and find Mal, apologize, tell her what happened." Regina said, "I'll find you and then you can walk me home?" She smirked, and he nodded.

"Sure."

Regina found Mal and explained what had happened, and the girl took her oldest friend into her arms.

"I won't let that happen." Mal tells her, "We're going to Boston, remember? We've wanted to be lawyers since we were 6."

"I know." Regina smiled, "Thank you for always having my back."

"You have mine, I have yours. Just like always." Mal tells her, "Are you sure you want to head home? You can stay with me tonight like we planned."

"After that whole ordeal I just really want to get into my own bed and cry." Regina laughs.

"Okay." Mal says, "I'll call you tomorrow."

The girls hug their goodbye, and Regina heads off in search for Robin.

The two of them head off, and they soon regret their decision to walk, and hail a cab.

* * *

The next week goes by uneventfully, Regina follows through on her promise to get it together, and focuses more in school, she and Robin become quite close, as do Mal and August, and soon, they all spend their free time together.

The week after is going fine, until it gets to Thursday, and Cora decides to tell Regina all of the things she's doing wrong, and about how she will be meeting Todd in a few months and that she hopes they get along, "Me and Leo worked really hard to get this deal, Regina. You must look and act your best."

"My life is not a deal, mother."

"That's where you're wrong, Regina. That's exactly what you are."

Regina heads into school with her head down and goes straight to her locker.

_That's exactly what you are, Regina. A deal._

Her mind replays it all morning, and at lunch she's under the bleachers smoking when Robin walks over.

"Hey, we've been looking everywhere for you." Robin smiles.

"You found me." She deadpans, and Robin steps back.

"Okay.. what's going on?"

"Nothing." Regina tells him.

"You're acting strange. Obviously something happened."

"Nothing happened, okay? Leave it." Regina tells him, Robin holds his hands up.

"Okay." He says.

Regina takes another drag, and Robin rolls his eyes.

"I thought you quit." He says, and she shrugs.

"I'm getting there. One a day is better than three."

"Touche." He says with a smile, he deflates when he doesn't get the usual one back. "You sure you are okay?"

"I'm fine." She says, and she even finds herself rolling her at how many times she's said that over the last eight weeks.

She stamps on the cigarette, and grabs her jacket. Something falls out of it and rolls, and her eyes close as her lips pierce.

"Regina.. What the hell is this?" Robin says, and holds them up after picking it up.

"Nothing, it's.. From weeks ago." Regina says, but that's a lie. She had two this morning.

"You're lying." He said to her, and she looked at him.

"No." She says, but her eyes fall to the ground and he just laughs.

"Why, Regina?" He asks her, "I thought you said you were done with this?"

"I am!" She tells him.

"Really? Looks like it." He says. "What happened to you, Regina?"

"What didn't." She says. "And you don't get to judge me okay? You barely know me! You're just some guy from school who gave me a ride home one time and got too comfortable." Regina snaps at him.

"Really? Is that all I am?" Robin says to her.

"What? Did you think we were friends?" Regina laughed. "I literally just about know your name." She told him with a snarky laugh and he nodded.

"You know what?" He says, and throws the pills at her, "You're right." He says, "Do what you want, I don't even know why I bother."

"That makes two of us."

Robin nods, and turns and heads off.

"Everything okay?" Ruby says as Robin walks away.

"Peachy." He says, and turns the corner.

"What the hell was that about?" Ruby said.

Regina shoved the pills in her pocket.

"Nothing. It's fine." She tells Ruby, "I have to go."

Regina walks to her car and slams the door, before taking a breath and letting a tear fall. She cleared her throat and drove off.

Regina is lying on her bed staring at the ceiling when her mother walks in.

"Mr Gold is here to see you, Dear."

"Why?"

"Do I look like your secretary?" Cora said to her, and Regina rolled her eyes and sat up.

She headed down the stairs and met Mr Gold in the main room.

"If you don't mind, Cora, I'd like a few moments alone with her." Mr. Gold said.

"Of course." Cora said with a nod, and shut the door as she exited.

Regina stood still, her muscles tight as she turned from the door her mother just closed back to the man.

"Hello Regina." He said to her.

"Hi.." She said, "Is.. everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Dearie. I just.. Have something for you." Mr Gold told her, "As you know, I was very good friend's with your father." He tells the girl, who nods. "Well," He says, before pulling out an envelope, "Before he passed he made me promise to be there for you, and not allow your mother to plan out your life." Mr Gold tells her. Regina reached for the envelope and looked back at him.

"He gave me this, and told me to give it to you, and let you know it's your getaway plan." He said, "He knew how hard your mother would push you, and, so, he wanted you to have options." Regina opened the envelope and pulled out the check, before choking.

"There's enough money there for college, a nice little apartment, or, just money to get you as far away as possible. Whatever you choose."

"I erm-" Regina stuttered, "Oh my god." She says, and looks at the man, "My father gave you this for me?" Her eyes tear up, Mr Gold nods.

"He loved you so much, Regina. He wanted you to have your best chance of getting out of here, if that's what you choose."

"I choose it." Regina laughs, and looks back at the check, before back at him. "Thank you." Regina says, and the older man just shakes his head.

"It was his last wish." He said, and the girl walked over to the man, and hesitated, before smiling and hugging him.

"Thank you." She said softly. "For not telling my mother."

"You're more than welcome, Regina." He says, and hugs her back gently.

* * *

Regina paces her bedroom floor, phone in her hand as she slaps it against her palm. She stopped, and gave in, before dialing Robin's number.

"Hello?" He says, and Regina sighs.

"Hey.." She says, he remains silent and panic sets in her gut. "I'm sorry about this afternoon, I just.. I had a bad day and I know that I shouldn't have fallen back into bad habits, I should have spoken to you, or Mal or Cru, but.. I need to see you. It's.. important. Like, life changing kind of important." Regina rushed out, taking little breaths.

"Regina, slow down." He says, "What's happened?"

"Something big, I need to see you. Will you meet me at the courtyard?"

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

"It will be."

Regina calls Mal and Cru next, and tells them the same thing, and in the next ten minutes, all five of them, along with John, August and Will, are sitting around the courtyard. Regina is pacing once again.

"That is a lot of money." Robin says, "Like, a lot."

"Yeah." Regina says.

"And your father just gave this to you?"

"Well, he gave it to Gold to give to me, but.. Yeah."

"Wow." Mal says, "Honey, this could get you into an Ivy league."

"I know." Regina says, "What the hell do i do?"

"Well, do you want to go to college?" Cru asked her.

"I.. think so." Regina said to her, "I know i wanna get out of here."

"Well.. you can with this amount." Robin says to her, still looking at the check.

"I know." Regina says, and stands till. "Do I go to college? Do I just run? What do I do?" Regina asks them

"You go to college." Mal laughs, "You could go to Yale Law with this amount. And still have spare."

Regina laughs and nods her head. "If I got my grades up, obviously."

"This is great!" Cru says, "You have your way out."

"I have my way out." She says and smiles. Robin looks up and matches her smile before winking at her and handing her back the check.

* * *

Three weeks later, the gang sat in Cru's living room applying for colleges.

Two weeks after that, they did their last exam.

Three days after that, they celebrated at Robin's bar while his parents were out of town.

Their graduation gowns came a week after that, and the six of them laughed as they took goofy pictures.

They all graduated on a Friday. Cora and Leo sat front row and center, the biggest smiles on their face as Regina walked down the podium, collected her diploma, shook hands with the headmistress, and headed towards her friends.

They were at the graduation party at the beach later that night, Regina and Mal were doing shots with Will and John when Robin walked over and grabbed Regina's arm.

"Can I talk to you?" He said to her, and she nodded.

"Sure."

Regina and Robin were walking across the beach, out of sight from the party as they reached the beach houses.

"I have some news." Robin said, and Regina looked at him. "I got into Berkeley, to study Business." He said to her with a smile, and Regina smiled straight back at him.

"Oh my god!" She shouted happily, "I'm so happy for you!" She said, before pulling him into a hug.

"Thank you." He said happily, "Full scholarship as long as I play for their football team. They said I should do sports and try and get scouted but.."

"You've always wanted your own business, I know." She smiled.

"Have you heard back from Yale Law yet?" He asked her as she slowly pulled from his arms.

"No, those don't come through till Thursday."

"I'm sure you got in." He smiles at her.

"I hope so." She said, "I'm so happy for you. I know how hard you worked for this." She said to him. He laughs.

"Yeah. You helped a lot." He tells her, and she shrugs.

"I think it's you who helped me." She told him. "I'd be following August and Ruby to community college if it wasn't for you." She laughed, and he tilted his head to the side.

"You put the work in." He told her, "You should be proud of yourself, no matter what."

"Yeah.." She smiled, and she looked at him.

Her hair blew behind her in the wind as she stared at him. He went to speak when she held her hand up.

"Don't say it." She says softly, "Berkeley and Yale are at least a day drive away from each other." Regina tells him.

"I know but-"

"Robin.." Regina tells him, "I know." She smiles, "But I can't do long distance." She tells him.

"We have the whole summer.." He tells her.

"And it would be amazing, but when it ends.." Regina says, "I just lost my dad, okay? I can't give myself to you knowing i'll lose you in a few months."

"You wouldn't lose me."

"We'd never see each other."

"A day isn't that long of a drive." Robin says to her, grabbing her hands, "And Mal will want to see August." Robin tells her, and she looks at him.

"Robin.. I can't." She tells him, and he nods.

"Right person, wrong time?" He jokes, and she nods.

"Yeah." She laughs, "In a few years if we still-"

"Yeah. I know." He tells her, and he smiles.

"You wanna head back?"

"Can we just sit here, for a little while?"

"Of course." He says, and they both sit down and watch the waves, their hands entwined.

She gets into Yale on Thursday morning, and she and Mal celebrate over the phone, Mal gets in twenty minutes later, and the two girls chat about their future.

Regina starts to slowly pack over the next week, boxes of her clothes going into Mal's and her car's trunks at different times as to not cause suspicion.

It was two Saturday's after Regina said No to a relationship with Robin, when she was listening to her dad's voice on the bear.

_Love, Regina. You have such a big heart, and it is not a weakness._

He'd told her that numerous times over her life, but hearing it hit differently, knowing she was closing off her heart in fear of getting hurt.

She looked through her phone at pictures of the six of them over the last few months, and her heart fluttered every time she came across one of her and Robin.

She grabbed her keys and headed to his house.

It wasn't until she sat sat on her car outside his building when she realized how stupid this was.

His parents were probably home

His sister as well. Who, for some reason, hates her guts.

She called his phone.

"Hey." She said to him when he answered.

"Hey." He said, "You okay."

"Yeah," She said happily. "Are you busy?"

"No.. My parents are out for the weekend and my sister is with her friends at the courtyard so I'm just sitting here with my ramen noodles." He laughed.

"Can I come over? I have to talk to you."

"Of course." He told her, "Is it your mother? Did she find out you're leaving for college?" He asked her.

"No, it's nothing like that." She told him, "I'll be there soon." She said, and ended the call.

She took three deep breaths before exiting the vehicle and locking her doors.

Regina took another four breaths, before knocking. The door opened a few seconds later.

"That was quick." He laughed, "Come in."

She walked past him and into his house, and looked at him.

"What did you want to tell me?" He asked her, and she swallowed.

"I was thinking about.. What you said last weekend. About how we have the whole summer, and that we can worry about things later.." Regina tells him, "My dad always used to tell me that I closed myself off so that I would never get hurt." Regina tells him, "I should really get over that." She says, and pulls his top towards her before smashing her lips into his.

"Well, I didn't expect that." Robin says as they part,

"I'm full of surprises." She says, before taking his hand and leading him towards his bedroom that she'd only ever seen in once before a week ago, when she was grabbing his jacket.

* * *

Regina and Robin spend the entire summer together. Her mother never finds out about him, but she met his parents a few weeks into their relationship when they bump into them in the town center.

"Regina, it's good to see you again." His mother smiles, and Regina smiles back.

"You too, Mrs Locksley."

"Nice to see you're not stumbling down the street." The woman jokes, and the couple laugh.

"You should come over for dinner one day next week before you all head off to college." His father says, and the young couple agree.

"I'll let Robin know a date and he can invite you over."

"Sure." Regina says, and they bid their farewells and head back on their walk.

Their three weeks till they start college, and Regina is lay in Robin's arms.

"Summer's almost over." She says sadly, Robin holds the girl closer to him, and kisses the side of her head.

"You're not going too loose me." He reassures her, and she nods.

"We're gonna make it?" She asks him, and the lad looks down at her as she looks up, and he smiles.

"Of course we are." He tells her. Regina lifts herself up and kisses him.

"I trust you." She tells him.

Two day's before the end of summer, and Robin and Regina are sat on the beach one night, wrapped in a blanket that protects them from the night's winds. Regina lays her head on her boyfriends chest, and he rubs his fingers up her arm comfortably.

"I have to tell you something.." Robin says to her, and Regina's heart falls from her chest. She sits up and looks at him

"What?" She asks him.

"I-"

"If you're about to break up with me can you at least do it when you're not my ride home because that's really awkward."

Robin laughs, "What?" He says, "Regina I'm not breaking up with you." He tells her.

"You're not?" Regina asks.

"No." He tells her.

"Then when have you been acting weird all day? You've been trying to say something all day and its making me ner-"

"I love you." He interrupts her, and she stops, and looks at him, before smiling.

"You do?" She says, with a giddy laugh.

"Yes." He tells her.

She kisses him, he pulls her into him and she giggles.

"I love you too." She tells him, before kissing him again.

"

It's a Wednesday night when Regina is writing her note for her mother.

_Mother,_

_I'm sorry it had to be like this. But, you gave me no other choice. I got into a great college, and I'm starting a new life over there. I hope this isn't the end of our relationship, but maybe a break, before a fresh start. I do love you, but I have to do this, for myself._

_-Regina_

She folds the paper and leaves it on the table, before writing another for Mar. Her heart ached at the thought of leaving the young girl she's grown so close with, but she knew it was the right thing to do for herself.

_Mary,_

_My sweetie, I am so sorry that I left like this. I want you to know that this had nothing to do with you, but something I will explain to you when you're older. I promise to call you every chance I get, and I will see you very very soon._

_Thank you for being the best little sister I could have asked for._

_-Regina x_

Regina quickly wiped her eyes, before grabbing the note and carefully walking up the stairs, all of her bags were already in the two cars, which was one less thing she had to worry about.

She placed the note on her sister's bedside table and creeped back out. She opened the front door and was half way down the path and towards Robin, Mal, John, Cru and Will when she heard her name being called.

"Regina?" Her sister's voice says from the front door and Regina turns quickly and heads back towards her.

"What are you doing awake, it's almost half two in the morning."

"I heard you leaving. Where are you going?"

Regina bent down to her level and placed her hands on the young child's cheek, and smiled sadly.

"I have to go." Regina tells her, "I got into college." Regina smiles, and so does the girl.

"You did?"

"Yeah!" Regina says, "But Cora, she didn't like that, so i have to go now while she's asleep, do you understand?" She says and the girl nods sadly.

"I will miss you."

"I'll miss you too, sweetie. But you'll see me very soon, okay?" Regina tells her. Mary hugs her sister tightly, tears falling down both of their faces.

"Promise?" Mary says.

"I promise." Regina tells her, "Now, go back inside, lock the door and head back into bed okay? Quiet as you can so Cora or your dad wont wake up."

"Okay." Mary says, "I love you,Gina."

"I love you, too." She smiles, and the girl gives her one last hug before running back indoors. Regina waits until she hears the bolt lock, before running towards her friends.

"Quick." She says, and they do, they all scatter to their cars and they head off for their future.

Robin grabs Regina's hand and smiles as they pass the 'Leaving Maine' sign.

"Are you ready for a new adventure?" He asks her.

"Always." She replies.

* * *

Man, this one really kicked my butt! I'm sorry if the ending sounded a bit rushed, but life got in the way, and I just needed it finished. Maybe if i have more free time in the next few months i'll dive deeper into teenage angst with these two. Haha.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> C3- Robin is a FBI Agent who went undercover for 18 months, five years ago. When a recent murder leads back to his time as Ricco Moretti, second han man to one of the biggest italian mobs in New York, he isnt prepared for the events that follow.
> 
> Includes prompts, 43/111/174/224.

"Marcus De'Bron, aged 32, found dead outside a bar at half six this morning." Agent Swan said as she placed his picture on the board. The Agents working the case stood across the room and listened.

"De'Bron, from the Italian mob?" Agent Jones asked.

"The very same. So, as you can imagine, the suspect pool is quite large." Swan told them, "Agent August Booth, who works this case with Major Crimes and Narcotics is here to lead the case." Swan nods towards the man, and he heads up.

"De'Bron was second man to Giovani Costa, who goes by Gio C," August plants his picture on the board. "He is known as the leader of this mob. So, either this was an inside job or someone from outside the cartel wanted revenge." Booth explains. "Along with him being De'Bron's second man, he was also one of our informants after we busted him less than five months ago. He cut the deal which means if Costa or one of Costa's men found out, they got rid of him."

"That doesn't explain the plain in sight body." Agent Nolan said, "I mean, if they were killing one of their own knowing he's an informant, wouldn't they want the body buried?"

"Not if they were trying to send a message." FBI profiler, Archie Hopper told them, "If they had one informant, they would be suspicious they'd have more. Placing the body in plain sight sends a message that if they are found, they will be killed." He tells everyone.

"Agent Lucas is in with Regina Mills now, who was the last person seen talking to Marcus before his body was found. She's also the owner of the bar where the body was found, which happens to be the hangout of the cartel. She's involved in this, but that's as much as we have on her." Agent Swan says.

"Regina Mills?" Agent Locksley says as he walks into the FBI Major Crimes floor.

"This is Agent Locksley." August Booth says, "He worked alongside me and a few others in the Clark cases when it was active. He also spent almost two years in deep cover within this gang. If you have any questions they are best directed to Agent Locksley unless told otherwise." Agent Booth tells them.

"Did you say Regina Mills?" Robin asks his co worker again, who just looks at him.

"Did you know her?" Agent Scarrett, asks him.

"You could say that.." He says, but before anyone could say any different, Regina Mills is being walked out by two agents, and she sees him.

"Ricco?" She says, and everyone's head turns. Regina pulls her arms from the hold Agent Lucas had her in and walks towards him.

"Regina." Robin says, she stares at him. Before he can react her palm meets his cheek harshly, forcing his head sideways.

"You bastard!" She shouts.

Agent Booth grabs her arms and pulls her back.

"You can't hit an FBI agent!" Agent Booth says, and Regina looks at him again.

"You're a cop?" She asks, before slapping him again.

Agents Nolan and Jones grab Regina and pull her back, dragging her to the holding cells.

"You lying son of a bitch!" She screams, "How could you!" She shouts as she meets his eyes, before she is pulled down the corridor.

"I can explain." Robin says to his co-workers.

"I'm guessing you had fun while being Ricco Moretti?" Agent Scarlett says with a smirk, and Robin just sighs.

"How is Regina involved?" Robin asks, as he looks at the murder board.

"She knows our victim, she called him the day he was killed, she was also the last known person to have been seen with him.. and she's connected to Gio, the leader, but, she won't talk." Agent Lucas tells them.

"Maybe she'll talk to me." Robin says, and gets the nod of Commander Gold, Chief of Major Crimes, and he heads to the holding cells.

* * *

He stands in front of Regina, and she looks right back at him.

"So, I'm guessing it's not Ricco Moretti?" Regina says in a tone that tells him she is not one for a game.

"No." He says, "It's Robin." He tells her, "Robin Locksley. My mother's maiden name was De-Luca, Bianca De-Luca."

"Well, at least you're somewhat Italian, you didn't lie about that." She sasses, and tilts her head to the side.

"I didn't lie about a lot of things." He tells her, and Regina looks at him, before raising an eyebrow.

"They said you went into hiding." Regina tells him, "Five years.. Without a word." She spits at him, staring at him.

"I know." He says with a sigh.

"You do not _know._ " She raises her voice, and stands, marching towards him in the cell.

"Believe me I didn't wanna go." He tells her.

"Spare me." She tells him viciously, "You didn't even have the guts to tell me to my face. Just a note on the dresser." She says.

"Regina, I know you're angry." He says, and she looks at him. "But if you're in trouble, if you know something about Gio C killing his guy then tell me. Let me help you." Robin says to her, and she looks at him.

"You can go straight to hell, _cop._ " She says, and turns her back to him, before sitting back on the bench and staring at him. He nods, before turning and walking away himself.

* * *

"Did you get anything?" Agent Swan asks.

"No." Robin tells them and sighs.

"Were you and Regina, you know.." Agent Scarlett says, but Robin stares at him and he drops it.

"I'll take that as a yes, shall I, Agent Locksley?" Gold says as he walks into the room. "Can I have a word please, you too, Booth." He says, and the two men stand and head into his office.

"How come I was never made aware that before you moved to Major Crimes, you spent two years undercover with Narcotics?" Commander Gold asks them.

"I was under clear instructions to keep those two years to myself sir, for the safety of myself and the case." Robin tells him.

"Because of Agent Locksley efforts we managed to put away twelve of the main fifteen in that mob, but something went wrong on the inside and we were unable to grab the one thing we needed, the one thing he went in for."

"The bible. The book with their contacts and deals." Gold says, "Yes, I'm well aware of what is needed to bring down this cartel."

"Since Marcus was your informant, I'm guessing he was going to be the one to grab the bible?"

"Yes, sir." Booth tells them.

"And without him, you're back to square one." Robin says to his former boss, Booth.

"Pretty much, although we still have Regina." Booth says.

"I'm sorry I don't understand?" Gold says.

"She's the other informant, we had two." Booth says.

"What?" Robin says, "Regina wouldn't snitch."

"Maybe not the old Regina." Booth tells him, "But once you left, she fell into hard times, the ties with a missing upper crew member, Gio C owns her." Booth explains, "They drink at her bar, they trust her. He even made an office in her basement, so when she wanted out we made her an offer.".

"For what, witness protection?"

"Yeah, for bringing down the crew. Helping us get the bible that was going to be the ticket." Booth says, "Well, that was until Gino found out Marcus was a rat, and had him killed."

"So that's why she called Marcus? To warn him?" Gold asks.

"That's our theory, yes. He tried to then talk his way out of it, which he couldn't, and he got himself killed.."

"So, what happens to Regina now?"

"She goes back in.." Booth says, his tone telling Robin all he needed to know.

"Wha-" Robin says, "She can't, not now. It's too dangerous."

"She's well aware of the risks." Booth says.

"Agent Booth, if _we_ linked her to Marcus, then Gio C can too." Gold says, and Robin looks at him with a raised eyebrow at his concerned tone, but lets it go.

"Look, Regina is more than free to walk away." Booth says.

"Walk away? And go where? You don't just want away from Gio C everyone knows that. They're going to hunt her down." Robin says. "You have to put her in witness protection."

"For the bible, sure." Agent Booth says, "Look, Witness protection isn't just some entitlement program." Booth tells him, "Regina has to earn it." Booth says, "Excuse me, I need to meet with her now."August grabs the door handle before turning back, "She understands what the risks are, she knew what she was getting into when she decided to help us." And with that, he walks out.

"Those guys are hanging her out to dry." Robin scoffs, and Gold leans back on his chair, "When Gio finds out he'll kill her for sure."

* * *

Robin heads down to holding where he finds Regina speaking with his ex boss turned friend turned current enemy.

"Look, the main thing is to not arouse suspicion." August tells her, "Keep your head down and you should be fine."

"No." Robin says as he walks up behind them, and August turns. "You'll be dead." He deadpans.

"Look at you." Regina says, "Telling the truth." She stares at him and he just looks right back at her, "Cop is right." She laughs, placing her hands in her pockets, "I'm screwed six ways to Sunday here." She shakes her head.

"Where does Gio C keep the bible?" Robin asks.

"In his bedroom safe." August tells him.

"How was Marcus gonna get it?"

"Every Thursday Gio has the crew over to bet on pool, Marcus was supposed to do it then."

"What about the combination?" Robin asks.

" Gio changes it every Friday, but I know the system he uses." Regina sighs, "I was gonna slip Marcus the code."

"And Marcus was part of the crew so he has access to Gio C's house." Robin says as he catches up.

"And now we have no one inside." August tells them.

Everyone is silent for a few seconds.

"I'll go in." Robin says. Regina looks up and stares at him while August turns around with a confused expression. "I'll get the bible."

"Really?" August says with a raised eyebrow, "You? How?"

"You know how close I was to Gio back then, my Ricco Moretti cover, it's still good."

"That was five, almost six years ago, Agent, things have changed."

"As far as the crew knows, I bolted when the feds rolled in, you guys even filed indictments against Ricco Moretti right?"

"Yeah.." August says.

"How long has law enforcement been after that bible? Fifteen? Twenty years? These guys are drug dealing parasites, when are you gonna get another shot to wipe them all out?" Robin say's to him. "Look, you want the bible, we want Gio C for murder, Regina wants to keep breathing. Everybody wins." Robin tells them, Regina looks at him, and tilts her head. "I can do this." Robin says.

August looks at him, before tapping his phone in my hand.

"Let me run this by the bosses." He says, before leaving the room.

"What are you doin?" Regina asks him as she walks to him. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I was Ricco, I can be him again."

"Just, don't get yourself killed on my account." She scoffs.

"Okay yeah, you hate me. I get that. And I deserve it. But do you wanna get put in witness relocation or not?" He asks her. Regina looks at him with a stern look. "Yes or no?"

Regina closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and nods slowly.

"Agent Locksley." August says, "Were you serious about that offer?"

Robin takes one last look at Regina, who meets his eyes, before turning, and nodding his head.

"You've been out of it a long time Agent, there's a new hierarchy." August tells Robin as they head back into the building, Regina is walking beside him. "You're going to have to win them over. Fast."

"Five years since you were Ricco, that's a lifetime. It's not enough to act like him, you must become him. If you're not convincing, they will kill you."

"I've got this." He says to August as they reach the building.

"You too, Regina." August says. "You play the part, you stay alive."

"Yeah.." She says, she looks at Robin once again.

"You've got what?" Agent Scarlett asked them as they walked in. "Regina, you're still here? I thought you were released, your alibi checked out." Will said.

"Have to sign the papers." August said, holding them up, and Will nodded.

"So, what have you got?"

"Huh?" Robin asked.

"You walked in and you said you had it? You have what?"

"Oh.. yeah." Robin says, "I'm going back undercover as Ricco."

"What?" Will says, "Robin.. You can't." Will tells him, and Regina follows August to the next desk while listening to their conversation.

"I have to, Regina needs to get into witness protection. We need Gio C for the murder and they need the bible."

"Robin. You could get killed. This could end so badly." Will tells him. "What about your family?"

Regina looks up at the comment, but Will doesn't notice, and carries on.

"Robin.. You have a wife.. A-"

"You're married?" Regina asks him, and Robin looks at her as Will turns around.

"It's complicated." Robin says to her, and Will laughs.

"Complicated?" Regina asks him and he looks at her.

"I wasn't married when we met, Regina." He tells her, Will stops laughing then.

Regina just looks at him, a betrayed look in her eyes.

"Are you ready?" August asks her, and she nods.

"Yeah." Regina tells him.

"Robin. Be ready to go in an hour." August tells him, "There is no time frame. You're there for however long you're there. But it is Thursday in two days, maybe you'll be home by Friday."

"Yeah." Robin says, still looking at Regina, who turned away from him and followed August out of the office building.

"You're seriously doing this?" Will asks him, "What about Marian? Roland?"

"They will be fine, I have to do this. It's my fault she's in this mess anyway." Robin tells him.

"What the hell are you talking about? It's been five years.. Whatever she's in it can't be your fault."

"Does the name Regina Mills sound Italian to you?"

"..No.." Will says to him, "Dude, what the hell happened back then?"

"It's a long story. But, I got her into this, I gotta get her out."

"Okay."

"You'll look out for my family?"

"Of course."

* * *

Marian is standing in his living room, crossed arms and she scoffs.

"Tell me you're not actually doing this."

"Marian.." Robin says, "I have to."

"Why? Because five years ago you got mixed up with a girl who's found herself in a bad situation?"

"It's more than that, Marian. I got her involved in that life."

"Whatever she got up to when you left is not on you, Robin. You don't owe her anything."

"I owe her this." Robin tells her, "And you know I'm right."

"What about Roland? What do I tell him?" Marian asks him.

"You tell him I've had to go away for work, and that I'll be back soon."

"And will you? Be back?"

"Yes." He tells her.

* * *

An hour and a half later and he's being dropped off at Staten Island.

"I don't like this, Robin." August tells him, "This could go wrong and get you both killed."

"It will be fine." Robin says, and steps out of the cab. He pulls the jacket over his shoulder and places the toothpick in his mouth and becomes his old alter ego. Ricco Moretti.

He walks into the bar and smirks at the stares.

"What's a man gotta do to get a drink round here, huh?" Robin says to the crowd.

"Ricco?" Regina says as she steps out of the bar.

"Hey beautiful, it's been awhile." He says to her.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." A woman yells from across the room. "Who the hell let you live?"

"Zelena." Robin says, and sighs, "Always a pleasure."

Zelena walks right up to him, before slapping him across the face.

"How dare you walk back into here after everything you've done."

"No hug?" He asks, and she goes to hit him again but he grabs her wrist. "Ah ah, one hits all you get, Red."

"You don't get to call me that anymore. Not after what you did to my sister."

Robin looks at Regina then.

"You drag her into this whole thing and vanish? And now you think you can come running back?"

"Last time I checked, Red, you were the one engaged to someone in Gio's crew, I just happened to be a part of that crew."

"Zelena." Gio says from the back of the bar, "Who's our guest?"

Zelena moves to the side and towards Regina.

"Well, if it isn't my fallen right hand man." Gio says, walking towards him.

"Gio, how's it goin?"

"I wondered when you'd pop up again." Gio told him, "Where did you run to?"

"Chicago. Got myself a few favors, some shipment deals. We can talk about moving some stuff around.."

"Five years is a long time for radio silence, Ric." Gio tells him, "And I've had an issue recently with rats.." He tells him, "How do I know you're not a nark?"

"You know me, Gio. I did what I had to do to survive."

"And left your girl to do so, that's what I don't understand." Gio say's, and Regina looks at Gio and then Robin.

"You get your girlfriend into this whole ordeal, and then we get busted by the feds, not only do you disappear with no warning, you disappear without her." Gio says, and stands in front of him, "Explain that." Gio asks, "Sounds to me like you got caught, and now you're a fed's nark."

"I'm not a nark." Robin tells him.

"So you up and leave without your girl because.. You what?"

"I had to get out, distractions cause mistakes, you told me that." Robin says. Gio whistles with a laugh and turns to Regina, who's leaned against the bar staring at him.

"I think you were right little miss, you got played.." Gio tells her, "My brother here, should be an example for you all." Gio shouts, "If we are ever busted, we scatter, no attachments." He says to everyone in the bar.

"You have contacts in Chicago?"

"And there ready to move." Robin says, and Gio places his hand out.

"Welcome back, Ricco." He says, and Robin shakes his hand.

* * *

Regina is sitting in her apartment when Robin arrives.

"Hey." He says as he shuts the door.

"Hey." She replies.

"It worked."

"I told you it would."

"Zelena.. I see she still has that temper."

Regina laughs, "Yeah. Her and Hades got married a few years ago."

"Really?" He asks her. Regina nods, and looks at him.

"I'm sorry." Robin tells her, "For leaving the way I did after everything we went through, for never telling you the truth."

"It's fine. It was five years ago."

"I got you into this mess and then I bailed."

"Zelena was getting married to one of Gio's guys.. She owned the bar. I think it was inevitable."

"You were never supposed to be a part of this." Robin tells her, "You were twenty one years old, Regina."

"Yeah.. I know." She smiles sadly at him, and he looks at her.

"I should never have gotten you involved back then. I should have listened to my boss and left you alone."

"You think I would have let you? As much to blame as you think you are, I hold the same."

"Maybe, but still, I should have known.."

"Known what? That Gio would hold onto me because I was the closest thing he had to you? Robin, no one saw that coming. No one thought he'd trust me like that after you dipped."

"I should have known that. It was my job to know that."

"You can't predict the unpredictable."

Robin places a hand on Regina's cheek and she closes her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She asks him, opening her eyes and meetings his.

"I-"

"Was any of it real?" She asks him, and he smiles.

"What we had, everything between us, was real. I never ever lied to you about how I felt."

Robin's eyes go from her eyes to her lips and back again.

"You're married." She tells him, and moves from his touch and walks away from him, towards the table at the end of the room, "That Agent said you had a family. You got kids?" Regina asked him, turning to face him after she picked up her glass of whiskey.

"Yeah." He tells her, "A son." He smiles, and she nods.

"That's great." She smiles. "How old is he?"

"He's two." Robin tells her, and her smile falters and she looks at him.

"Two?" Regina says, "Jesus, Robin. What the hell are you doing here when you have a baby at home? I can look after myself here, I've done a good job of it so far." She tells him as she places her glass down.

"I'm here because I owe it to you to make sure you don't get killed."

"I am not your problem anymore."

"You were never a problem."

Regina scoffs at that, and shakes her head.

"Me and you know full well why the fed's bust up went wrong on the day you ran, don't act like you don't." Regina tells him, "I should have known something was up with you that day, the fact that you knew they were coming should have been a big red flag." Regina laughs.

"I needed you to be safe. Warning you was the only way. I wasn't going to let you go down for it, Regina. It wasn't anything to do with you."

"By running that day, you made it all about me. You know that right?" She snapped, and he nodded.

"Why do you think I came back?"

Regina just looked at him, "I don't want your guilt and I sure as hell don't want your pity." Regina tells him, "You made your choice that night, you lef-"  
"I told you, it wasn't my choice to leave that way."

"You're telling me after two years of being Ricco you couldn't spare an extra ten minutes to tell me the truth? To warn me that you were in far too deep over your head?"

"Regina-"

"Do you know what happened after you left?" She yelled, and she looked to the ground, "Did you even bother to look into it? Into me?" Regina asks him, "Or did you not want to know what damage you caused by having half of them sent down before vanishing?"

"I did what I had to do. What I was told to do." Robin tells her, and she laughs and shakes her head. "What happened? After I left? How did you end up in Gio's pocket?"

"Because Gio knew I knew everything, and he wouldn't risk losing me like he lost you. He values loyalty above all, Robin. You know that. You were his best friend." Regina tells him.

"That doesn't explain to me how you ended up being the person he trusts with the codes. You barely knew him."

"Things changed."

"Please tell me you didn't end up-"  
"No!" Regina says, "No. He just knew how I felt, we became friends and I ended up in trouble with some guys who came looking for you, he got them off my back. I owned him after that, and he never let me forget it."

"Who? Who came looking?"

"The gang from uptown from months before when you and Gio took the crew for a shipment at the valley. They thought I'd know where you were."

"I'm sorry. Everything that you've been through.. It's because of me."

"I guess it is." She nods, "Shame you never cared enough to check back on the damage you caused." She tells him.

"I couldn't.." Robin tells her in a soft tone.

"I know." She tells him, "I just don't care." And with that, she downs the last of her whiskey.

"Regina-"

"No." She tells him, "I have to go."

Regina walks past him and leaves the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Robin walked into the bar that night, and took a deep breath before heading towards Gio and his new right hand man, Hades. Who he knew from back then.

"Ricco!" Gio says as he spots his old friend heading his way. "Get my brother a drink, Red." He nods to Zelena.

"Bitter?" She asks Robin with a more than displeased tone.

"You know me so well, Zelena." He winks, and the Red headed woman rolls her eyes.

"Where's Regina tonight?" Robin asks as Zelena passes him the drink.

"I imagine she's with Daniel." Gio says casually, "Why the sudden interest in the ex you abandoned?" Gio smirks.

"Just wondering.. Five years is a long time for her to have stuck around when she wasn't part of this in the first place." Robin says, "Guess I'm just curious as to how much chaos she's managed to make herself."

"Well," Gio says, "I trust her for a reason." He tells her with a nod, "She's a smart girl, I can tell why you were so fond of her."

"Careful, that's my sister in law you're talking about." Hades tells him as he pats her shoulder, "Lets not forget how young she is." Hades says with a smirk, and Gio laughs.

"Twenty six isnt young, when I was twenty six I was a in this whole lot deeper than she is."

"Gio." Zelena says, "Leave her out of it." She says with a raised eyebrow,

"Or what?" He challenges, and leans over the bar, but Hades pulls him back and squeezes the back of his neck.

"Or I'll make it so you never have another deal with the valley again." He says sharply, and Gio pushes the man off him.

"Don't forget who you work for, Mr Hades."

"Don't forget who saved your ass from the feds five years ago." Hades tells him.

Gio raises a glass and smirks, "I guess I do have my reasons for protecting the Mill's clan."

"Protecting?" Robin says, "You don't protect anyone." He laughs, and Gio laughs along.

"Not normally. But you see, Regina is a very valued asset in this operation. Not everyone knows what she does." Gio tells Robin, and turns to Hades, "Even you." He tells his second hand man, who just rolls his eyes and smiles towards his wife as she passes him a bitter.

"Why Regina?" The undercover cop asks.

"Still hung up on the pretty little thing are we?" Gio teases, "I'm sure you'll catch up soon. That's if she ever speaks to you again."

"Why don't you just tell me now, save me the trouble of getting it out of her?" Robin asks, his whole body tense and worried.

"Lets just say.. She was there when you weren't, and that counts for a lot in my books."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"She got caught up in your mess, Ricco." Zelena tells him, "Gio is the only reason she's still alive."

"What happened?"

"The valley, you upset them." Gio says "I got them off her back, she owed me, we bonded, and now I see her as my most trusted confidant, apart from Hades of course." Gio says, "She earned it. Well, that and she's dating my brother."

Robin's heart stops.

"She's dating Daniel?"

"Here she is." Hades say's as Regina appears at Robin's side.

"Gio, can I speak to you?" Regina says her eyes darting across the room, it's obvious she's been crying.

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

Regina looks around the room, and steps closer into the group, her sister jumps across the bar and is at her side instantly, and Gio looks at her. "Regina, What happened?" Gio asks.

"They killed him." She whispers, and Gio stands, and grabs her shoulder. "Follow me." He says, and they all do.

They get into his office and Regina paces the room. That's when Robin notices the blood on her hands.

"What the hell happened?" Gio shouts, and she shakes her head.

"I got there and he was just laying there, bleeding. He told me they found him and shot him, then he just died…" Regina gets out quickly, shaken up.

"Did they see you?" Zelena asks, Regina shakes her head.

"Who's they?" Robin asks them, and everyone looks at him.

"Sit down." Gio tells him, "You've been gone a long time, Brother. Things have changed."

"Just, tell me." Robin says.

"No." Regina says quickly, and Robin looks at her.

"You don't trust him?" Gio asks her, and she looks at Robin, whose eyes are wide.

"Why should I? Last time I checked, I was just a distraction." She spat.

"He needs to know, Princess." Hades tells her, and places a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you trust him?" Gio asks Regina, "I trust you, your gut instincts have saved me numerous times." Gio tells her, "Feelings aside, can we trust him? Can we let him in?"

Regina looks at Robin, who stares at her, and she takes a deep breath.

"Yes." She lies, and Gio nods.

"They.. are the Irish mob." He tells them, "Daniel got caught up with them a few years ago due to his father being Irish.. They found out he was a mole for one of the mobs, us, but they didn't know who and he ran. He's been hiding here since last March." Gio say's, "They found him."

"You're sure they didn't see you?"

"I'm sure. I went through the back entrance."

"This is bad." Gio say's. "If they've linked Daniel to us it won't be long until there's a turf war."

"Gio, it's not bad, it's... god, we're all gonna die." Zelena says, "They'll kill all of us without batting an eye."

"No." Gio say's, "We carry on as normal."

"Are you crazy?" Zelena shouts.

"This doesn't leave the room. We keep it to ourselves. Regina, I'll feel better if you stay with Hades and Zelena for now, Ricco you're with me while I catch you up. The pool bets will go on as normal, and on Friday, we meet back here and we sort a plan." Gio says, "We tell no one until we know what we're dealing with."

"Did you phone about his body?" Hades says, Regina shakes her head.

"No i- I came straight here."

"Okay. Me and H will go and sort it. Zelena, head back to work, Ricco stays here with Regina," Gio says, Regina goes to say something, "I don't want to hear it. I trust him, if something is going to happen to you, he's the best person to be around."

"You'll protect her?" Zelena says, and Robin nods.

"Of course."

"I'll be back in an hour, and we can talk." Gio tells Robin, who nods, and soon, it's just Robin and

"Jesus Regina!" He says, "You kept a lot to yourself."

"What?" She asks him, obviously shaken up.

"The Irish mob? Dating Daniel? Your very strong connection to Gio?"

"What I do is nothing to do with you. You lied. You left and you lied. Throughout the whole two years, and you're telling me I left out bits?" Regina laughs.

"I'm talking about now. You're trying to bring him down, why?"

"I want out." Regina tells him, "After Daniel got caught up with the Irish mob I knew I had to get out. Do you know how easy it would be for them to link me to him? Robin, I'm doing this to survive."

"I know, I get that. But with how much Gio seems to like you, I'm sure he'd let you walk away."

"It's not that simple."

"Why?"

"I'm in deep here, Robin. Not just with Gio, but with Daniel and his links to the Irish. With you, with the people who are still looking for Ricco Moretti." Regina says, "I'm a target, everywhere."

"So, you're going into witness protection for protection from other mobs? Not this one."

"Yes." She nods.

"That would have been good to know before I got caught up in this."

"I never asked you to come. I actually remember telling you not to."

"You should have told me how much trouble you were in."

"Well, now you know."

"No, actually I don't." He tells her, "You are being very vague. Tell me, Regina, what the hell is going on here?"

"I-" Regina says, and she runs a hand through her hair.

"We can't help you if you don't tell me what you've done."

"Robin.." She says, "You made a mistake coming back here." She tells him.

"I'm starting to figure that out." He tells her, "Spill it."

* * *

"Three months after you vanished, I was walking home when I got stopped by three men from the valley, they thought I'd know where you were, that I was still working with you and Gio in the plan to bring them down. They would have killed me if Gio and Hades were not in the office. But they were, and they saw it on the cameras. They came out, killed them, and then Gio made sure I knew I owed him." Regina tells him, before taking a huge sip of her drink. "Two weeks later he calls me and asks me to meet him and Daniel in the office. Once I get there, they tell me about the plan to get the valley taken down once and for all." Regina tells him.

"How?" Robin asks her.

"Gio told me I had to go in, along with Hades and play them. Tell them I had information on where you were." Regina tells him, "And after he'd saved my life, saying no was not an option, you know that."

"I'm guessing it went well? The valley hasn't been active for years."

"It did. Kind of." She nods, "They went to the location I told them, and Gio and the crew, or at least, the four that were left, met them there, and I am not sure on exactly what happened, but I know Gio killed the ones that were there." Regina tells him, "We didn't hear anything from them after that, we guess they're hiding, but we do know they think it was the Fed's, which means they think I'm with the Fed's which is why I live in Gio's building and why Daniel was.. Anyway."

"What was Daniel?"

"He was ex military, Gio told him that nothing was allowed to happen to me. It doesn't matter. What happened with me and Daniel is irrelevant." Regina tells him, and Robin just stares at her before taking a gulp of his drink, she did the same.

"Then what?"

"Then, Gio started trusting me with key information such as their shipment deals, the names of their contacts and the codes for all the safes." She tells him, "Then two years ago, Daniel went into the Irish as a mole to try and grab some of their contracts for Gio, nine months in he got caught out as a mole and he ran. We didn't see him until three months later after he'd ran to France, trying to lose the trail. We thought he did, I mean, obviously we were careful and we always knew to watch our backs but.. They found him, maybe two hours ago and now he's dead."

"So when Daniel shows up again, you what? Call the feds?"

"No. I was close with Marcus, and he noticed how on edge I was when Daniel got back. And he told me there was a deal he could get me if I wanted out, and he told me."

"You took the deal."

"Yeah." Regina nods, "Now Marcus is dead, Gio is on the hunt for the rat, The Irish are back and have killed my boyfriend, they're going to dig into him, found out about me, learn i'm the one with the fake in-tell on Ricco that got half of the Valley crew killed and boom. I'm dead." Regina says. "If the Valley's are in the Irish's pockets like August thinks, the minute my name flashes up they're going to come for me."

"How come the Valley never came for you after half of them were killed?"

"I have no idea. I thought for sure they would but.. Nothing ever happened."

"So.. you need out, and fast."

"Now that they've found Daniel I needed out three hours ago." Regina tells him, "It won't take them long to figure out who I am. I don't have until Thursday night."

"It's tomorrow. It's one day. They can't figure out Daniel's life in a day." Robin tells them, "It took them three months to _find_ him."

"Yeah. Because he ran to France and made a few deals down there, they've found him in Staten from France, Robin, They have eyes everywhere." Regina tells him, and he walks towards her.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He tells her, and places a hand on her cheek, and she looks at him. "You're going to be fine, you're getting out of here."

"I'm not too sure." Regina says, "Gio could figure out I'm the mole. There's so many things that can go wrong with this plan, never mind the whole Irish mob situation." She tells him.

"You've made quite the mess." He smirks, and she laughs.

The door slams upstairs and he backs up from her and she quickly wipes her tears.

"I'm going to get the blood of my hands." She tells him, and heads into the bathroom as Gio and Hades walk back in.

"Where is she?" Gio asks, looking around the room as he rubs his hands on a cloth.

"Bathroom." Robin tilts his head to the door, and Gio nods.

"She's okay?"

"As okay as she can be after watching her boyfriend die." He tells him.

"She's strong. She's gonna be fine." Hades says.

Regina walks back into the room and looks at Robin, who nods to her.

"I'm gonna take Princess home," He smirks to Regina about her nickname, who rolls her eyes with a small smile of her own. "You two talk, there's a lot to discuss."

Hades and Regina leave the room, and Gio sighs.

"Take a seat, Ric. There's a lot to tell."

* * *

Thursday morning, and Robin meets August in a cafe five miles away, and slides into the booth.

"You have to get her out. Now." Robin tells him, and August sighs.

"She has to give us something, Robin. You know the rules. I can't get her there without something on her end.

"August, there's more going on here than just her wanting out of Gio's Pocket. It's not even Gio. She and Gio get along." Robin says, and shakes his head.

"What are you talking about?

"She's in far too much, there's the Irish mob, the valley, then there's her just murdered boyfriend."

"I'm sorry?" August says, "Do you wanna go back to the start and explain to me what the hell you're talking about."

Robin takes a deep breath.

"Jesus." August says, "She's twenty six. How did she manage to get herself dragged into all of this in just five years."

"It all leads back to me, Booth." He tells his friend, "People came looking for Ricco a few months after I was gone, and Gio saved her. After that she was his."

"Jesus." August repeats, "Poor girls as good as dead, there's nothing I can do to stop it." He tells Robin, "It won't take the Irish long to link to her Daniel."

"You can put her in witness now."

"No, I can't. It's not protocol." August tells him, "You know this."

"So what then? I just stand around and watch her die?"

"No. You get the bible to me, and then she's out. We just need the bible."  
"You know full way if the Irish have found her she's dead in the next ten minutes, and you're telling me our only option is something that's in ten hours?"

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too." Robin says, and gets out of the booth, leaving the cafe.

* * *

Regina stood behind the bar, watching as Robin, Gio and Hades talked among themselves.

"You okay?" Zelena asks her.

"I'm still alive. That has to count for something." Regina jokes.

"They won't find you, Regina. Daniel loved you. He protected you."

"Didn't they say that about Tony? His girlfriend was killed eight hours after he was, and _we_ didn't even know they were dating."

"Regina-"

"They have eyes everywhere, Zelena." Regina tells her, "I've made my peace with it."

"Stop it."

"It's fine. It was gonna get me killed eventually."

Regina walks away when Robin tilts his head at her, and she follows him into the back.

"Do you have the code?"

"Yeah." She nods, and passes him a note with it on.

"I'm getting you out of here, tonight."

"Okay." She says, and goes to walk away from him, but he grabs her wrist and turns her around.

"You're going to be fine." He tells her, and she nods.

"Yeah." She says, "You should go."

"Do you trust me?"

She looks at him, and nods. "Yes."

"You're not dying, not now. Not here." He places his hand in hers and squeezes it. "I'm sorry about Daniel."

"Thanks." She smiles, "I need you to promise me something."

"Sure." He smiles, and she looks at him.

"If you don't end up getting the bible tonight.."

"Regina.."

"Just listen." She smirks and he nods, "If you don't get it.. The Irish will come for me, and when they do, you get out." She tells him, "You're only here because you think this is your fault, so, when.. You know.." She tells him, the last of the sentence not leaving her mouth. They both know what she means. "You go, you go back to your wife and your son and you never come back here." Regina tells him, and he closes his eyes, shaking his head and she places a hand on his cheek. "Promise me." She tells him, tears forming in her eyes, and he nods.

"I promise." He whispers, and she smiles sadly as she nods. "But I also promise to do everything I can to get you out of here."

"I know." She says, her sad smile punching him in the gut.

"I'm so sorry, about all of this."

"It's not your fault." She tells him, "Now go." She says, and he nods, and heads back into the bar.

Regina steps out a few moments later, wiping her cheeks and he watches as she heads towards her sister, who then stares daggers at Robin.

"Why is she crying?" Hades asks him, and Robin jumps at the man's sudden appearance.

"Jesus. Where the hell did you just come from?" Robin says, and the man looks at him.

"Why is she crying?"

"Tough day. She does think she's about to get killed." Robin says, and Hades nods, and watches as Robin walks off.

* * *

Robin is playing his round of pool when he notices Hades's whispering something at Gio, and they look at him. Gio nods, and Hades heads towards the front, Gio following behind him not long after, and Robin takes his chances.

"Be right back." He says, and heads out of the room and up the stairs. He heads towards the room and towards the safe. He pulls out the paper Regina handed him and punches in the code. He stays in high alert as he looks for the bible, he pushes the dirty money to the side and grabs the book. He hears Gio coming up the stairs then, he quickly slams and locks the safe, before placing the photo back on the wall. He rushes to hide behind his draw and holds his breath and Gio walks in.

"H! have you been Ric? He should be there for this." Gio says.

"No, he's down there somewhere though." Hades says, "I just can't believe it." He says.

"Trust me, you're not the only one." Gio says, and the two men leave the room. Robin realises a breath and thinks about the conversation he'd just heard. What the hell were they talking about?

Robin rushes from the room with the bible in his inside jacket pocket, and hurries to the kitchen just in time for Gio to spot him. Robin looks in his direction and follows the man at the tilt of his head. He meets them in the driveway.

"Hey." Robin says, and Gio nods.

"We have a problem." Gio tells him.

"Get in." Hades says, pointing to the car.

"What's going on?" Robin asks.

"Just, get in the car, Ric." Gio tells him, "I'll be there soon."

Robin looks at him, before opening the door and getting it. Hades gets on the other side and they drive off.

"What is it?" Robin asks.

"Trust me, you'll want to hear this from the horse's mouth." Hades says, and Robin tenses and looks out the rear-view mirror to spot Gio speeding off in a different direction.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?"

"Probably because you're not."

Robin and Hades arrive at the docks, and the two wait for five minutes before Gio is speeding in.

* * *

The man gets out of the car and slams the door shut.

"Ricco, dude. Do I have some news for you." Gio shouts, "Get her out."

Enzo, someone else from the crew opens the door of the car and pulls Regina out by her arm, before pushing her forward and placing her in front of Robin, maybe two feet away from him. Her hands bound together, her face covered in tears.

"Do you want to tell him, Regina? Or should I?" Gio says, grabbing his gun and pointing it at her.

"Wow, Gio, man." Robin says, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sorry." She says to Robin, and he looks at her.

"What's going on?" Robin asks.

"Our trusted little angel here, is a nark!" Gio shouts, "I knew there was another one after Marcus, but.. God!" He screams, kicking the car, "I trusted you, Regina." He tells her.

"I know." She tells him, looking at him, "I didn't do this to hurt you."

"You've been dating my brother for Christ sake! You could have been my sister in law and you betray me like this? After all I've done for you!"

"I did this because of all of that!" Regina tells him, "Either way, I'm dead."

"I don't understand." Gio says to her.

"When Daniel showed back up I knew there wasn't long until the Irish would find him, I knew the moment they found him, it would all link back to me. You know what happened at the Valley. How that links to me. The minute my name flashes up I'm dead. I did this to get out of here. I Never did this to hurt you." She explains.

"You could have talked to me, Regina."

"Would you have let me go?" She asks, and he turns around, shaking his head. "Exactly."

"So you what? Become a nark for the feds for protection? What do they want, huh?" Gio asks her, and she turns away from him, "Tell me what they are after and I'll kill you quickly."  
"No one is killing anyone." Robin tells him, "Are you really going to allow him to kill your wife's sister?"

"Zelena wants nothing to do with her after this. Whatever she's dealt with the feds brings down us all, including her own sister." Hades says, spitting out the last sentence at Regina, who looks to the ground.

"I'm sorry." She says, and Gio laughs.

"Are you?" He asks her, and she looks up and stares at Robin.

"What the hell, Regina?" Robin plays along, and she closes her eyes.

"You weren't here, this whole goddamn thing is your fault in the first place." She tells him, and Robin feels like he's been stabbed, the look on her face is giving nothing away, and he can't tell if she means it, and that hurts him most of all.

"She's right." Gio says, "Which means it's only fair that you end it." Gio says, and passes the gun to Robin. "Kill her. Let's end this right now."

"What?" Robin says, and looks at the gun is his hand, at Gio, and then Regina.

"End what you started. Kill her and get it over with." Gio says, and Robin closes his eyes.

"Either shoot her, or I'll kill you both." Gio says, "There's either going to be one body here tonight, or two. It's up to you."

Robin looks at Regina with pained eyes. She takes a deep breath and holds her head eyes catch each other's, and she blinks slowly.

"It's okay." She tells him, "It's not your fault." She looks at him, "Just do it."

He cocks the gun and holds it up to her. She nods with a sad smile.

Robin looks at her and takes a deep breath.

"Gio, this isn't the way to do it." He says the gun still pointed at the woman he's pretty sure he never stopped loving.

"I can't have a nark walking around, Ricco." Gio tells him, "You either kill her, or I kill you both. I can't kill her and let you live, not when you're in love with her, you'll turn into the rat she is. But if you kill her, you wont risk going to jail for murder, not when you ran five years ago to avoid it."

"It's okay." She tells him again, "I'm dead by morning anyway, word is the Irish are here." She laughs, "I'd rather die by my terms than theirs."

"I-" Robin says, "I can't." He tells them, and she closes her eyes.

"So what? You're choosing to die rather than kill a rat that was going to put you away?"

"No. I'm choosing to end this." Robin tells him, "Just not by killing her." He says, and before anyone can move he'd fired two shots, one at Gio, hitting his shoulder, the other at the only other one with a gun, Hades, and hit him in the leg. He takes his chance while they're on the ground and grabs Regina's arms and runs with her. He pulls her behind the large shipment packages, and pulls them to the ground.

"That was so stupid!" She hisses, while he grabs her wrist and unties her.

"There's nowhere to go and now they're going to kill the both of us." Regina tells him, "Why didn't you just pull the trigger and run?"

"Because.." He says, but trails off. "I couldn't kill you." Robin tells her. Once her hands are untied, he looks at her to find her staring right back at him.

"You promised."

"No, I didn't promise that." He tells her, "And I have it." He says, and she leans her head back.

"We aren't going to get out of here alive, you know what right?" She tells him. "You have a two year old son to get home to, what the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I left you once, and it was the biggest mistake i ever made, and i will not be doing it again."

"What's the plan? The docks are big enough to hide forever, they're going to find us."

"Well, then i guess we hide like our lives depend on it." He tells her with a smirk.

"Come out come out wherever you are!" Gio sings, and the two freeze.

"Come on." Robin whispers, and wraps his hand around hers and pulls her towards the end of the docks and towards the cars.

"I know you're here somewhere." Gio shouts. "Come out now and i'll kill you fast."

"Go around. They can't be far." Gio says to Hades and Enzo.

"Were trapped. They're at every exit."

"They have my phone. What about you?" Robin asks, she shakes her head.

"Does it look like I had time to grab my phone?"

"Right." He nods, "Yeah." He says, and leans them against another package.

Robin pulls out his gun and holds it up before pulling Regina behind him gently as they walk.

There was no escape.

"Stop." Hades shouts, and the two freeze.

"Hands up." Enzo shouts, and Gio comes running in.

"Well, well, well." Gio says, "Ricco, now you start looking after your girl? She needed it more the last time." Gio tells him.

"A guy only makes that kind of mistake once." Robin tells him, his gun pointed at Hades, whose gun was pointed at him.

"Now." Gio says, and both Enzo and Hades shoot. Robin does the same, firing shots at all three of them, as he watches them fall to the ground he can't help but release a breath at how he's still standing. Unharmed.

"Come on. Gio will be standing soon." He says and turns to Regina who's hand is on her stomach. She removes it and his heart falls.

Blood.

Blood all over her hand.

All over her shirt.

"No." he says, and grabs her before she falls, holding her up, "Come on." He says, "Stay with me." He falls with her as her body gives out.

"Robin.." She winces, her voice hollow and sharp, and he knows she's in a lot of pain. "You need to go." She tells him. He shakes his head, holding her into him, pressing down his hands into wound.

"No." He tells her.

"You pro..promised me." She tells him, looking at him. A tear falls down her cheek, and he gently wipes it away, keeping his hand there while his other pressing down on her side.

"I didn't promise you this. Look. I have the bible. You just need to hold on a little longer."

"Well, well, well," Gio says as he stands, holding his shoulder where he was shot. "Looks like I got the two of you. It's a shame really. You really both were two of my favorite people." Gio says, and holds up his gun. But before he can fire, he's shot again, in the leg, and the man falls to the ground, dropping the fire arm. Robin looks over to find his co-workers and other members of the FBI.

"Here!" Robin shouts, and throws August the bible. August catches it, and three cars speed away, off to make arrests they've waited ten years for. August runs at Gio and cuffs him, Will and Jones do the same to Enzo and Hades.

Robin looks back at Regina, "It's okay. You're okay. Stay with me." Robin tells her. "It's over. You're safe, just hang on for me okay."

Regina nods, and looks at him, she goes to speak when an ambulance pulls up, and it isn't long till she's taken from his arms and placed in the ambulance.

* * *

Robin walks through the door slowly, tapping his fingers against the glass. She looks over and smiles, before tying up her shoe.

"They're discharging you?"

"They have to." Regina tells him, "I have to be in Witness by tomorrow afternoon. They're running a story through the mob's that Gio killed me."

"Good." He says to her, and she nods. "Where are you staying tonight?" He asks her as she stands.

"Some hotel the FBI is paying for, I'm not sure on the details." She tells him. Regina walks over to him and grabs his hand into hers.

"Thank you, for.. Well, everything." She tells him with a smile.

"You don't have to thank me."

"You saved my life. Twice." She says, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiles.

"Have you seen your son?" Regina asks him.

"I am heading home now, just thought I'd see how you were before I did."

"I'm okay."

"Yeah.."Robin says softly, and looks at her. "Regina, I-"

"Don't." She whispers, "After you walk out that door we are never going to see each other again." Regina tells him, "So just.. Don't."

"Be safe, okay?" He tells her, squeezing her hands.

"You too." She smiles, and he looks at her one last time before turning and heading out to the room.

Regina releases a shaky breath as the door shut behind him.

* * *

Regina is sat on the bed in the hotel, scrolling through the TV channels while her brain runs a mile a minute about the last two days. About finding out the man she loved wasn't the man she loved at all. He was Robin. An FBI Agent, who she knows she will never see again. Her heart then aches for the loss of Daniel, the man who, yeah, she may not have loved as much as she'd once loved Ricc- _Robin._ But, that love only happens once in your life, and she'd made peace with that. Her and Daniel had so many plans. And now he was dead.

Regina sighed as she wiped away a tear that fell down her cheek.

The knock at the door made her freeze.

Nobody was supposed to know where she was, and the Agents told her they'd be in the lobby, but if they needed her, they'd call before they came up.

"Regina. It's me." Robin said, and she walked to the door, as she opened it, she took a breath.

"Robin?" She said with confusion as she frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"The thought of never seeing you again.. Without doing this.. It was something I knew I'd regret."

"Doing what?" She asked, even more confused than before.

She didn't even have a chance to think before his lips were on hands cupped her face. She responded quickly, placing her hands on his stomach, but she ended it just as quick.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, "Robin.. You're married." She says.

"Separated." He confirms.

"After tonight, we will never see each other again." She tells him, he shakes her head. She places her hands on his cheeks and he looks at her.

"You have a son. You have to think about-" She begins to say, but her words are cut off as a sharp pain hits her back. A warm sensation fills her body as she collapses to the ground.

Robin catches her instantly, holding her in his arms. He watches as blood pools from her chest from the bullet wound in her spine, and he knows, he _knows,_ it's too late, that she doesn't have any time left, not enough time for help to get here.. But he finds himself wishing on it anyway.

"Stay with me." He tells her, cupping her face, she looks at him, gasping. "I know it hurts but hold on for m-"

"It doesn't hurt." She whispered, he wouldn't have even heard her if he wasn't on high alert. "It's okay." She says, a small smile on her face. He shakes his head. A tear rolls from his eyes as she bleeds out in his arms, he knows there nothing he can do.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." He tells her, "You were supposed to go and live your life and be happy." Robin tells her.

"It's okay." She says again.

"It's my fault." He whispers, stroking her cheek with his left hand as his right arm supports her.

"No." She shakes her head. Her breathes are getting tighter, her voice is cracked. "This is not your fault."

Robin shakes his head and closes his eyes. "Please stay.. Just hold on for me. Please."

"I'm.. cold.. Tired." She tells him, and he opens his eyes and looks into hers. "At least.. At least I won't be dying alone." She says with a smile, and he laughs sady at that.

"I'm here." He tells her, I'm not going to leave you. You're never going to have to be on your own again. I promise."

She smiles, her body is becoming heavier in his arms as she fades away, but she hangs on. For him. For them.

"Regina." He says, "I- I love you." He tells her, "I always have, ever since you walked into the bar with Zelena five years ago."

"Yeah?" She whispers with a smile, he chuckles.

"Yeah." He nods, wiping her tears from her cheek. "I am so sorry for everything. For lying to you. For leaving. For never checking in."

"It's okay." She says to him.

She's going now, she can feel it. But he has to know this.

"I love you too." She tells him, and he smiles at her. "I always have."

Robin looks at her, he smiles.

"Always huh?" He jokes, she laughs, but that causes her breath to catch in her throat, and then she's fading away.

"Rob- Robin.." She wheezes, and he nods, strokes her cheek and smiles.

"I'm with you, Always." He tells her, and she lights up, her eyes shine into his.

But the light dulls out, and her smile falls, she goes limp in his arms and he watches the life drain of her body.

"I love you." He said, kissing her forehead, "I will always love you."

He stays with her for a few more moments, shocked, heartbroken, angry.

* * *

Regina Mills died in his arms at 9:04PM.

He calls her death into the FBI at 9.12PM.

She's taken from him forever at 9.21PM.

* * *

"Looks like someone from the Irish mob shot her from a sniper gun from the roof of the building across the road. I'm surprised she was conscious for as long as she was." Agent Jones tells Robin as he stands in the FBI building, staring at the closed murder. Staring at her face.

"Any idea who?"

"No. But Booth and Scarlett are working on it." He tells him. "Go home, Robin, see your son."

"Yeah." He nods, and takes a breath before leaving the building.

* * *

Everyone always said you have one great love, and Robin never believed that until he was stood at Regina's grave one week later.

"I miss you." He whispered, and placed down a rose. "My heart is yours, always." He says, before standing and backing up.

He can't help but smile at the white feather that falls on top of the rose.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. Hope you liked it. A week of fics is going to kill me haha.


End file.
